30 May 2018

Meth contamination fears debunked, tenants devastated

From Morning Report, 6:39 am on 30 May 2018

An official finding by the government's chief scientist that smoking methamphetamine in houses creates no health dangers for other people has come too late for many people. Hundreds of tenants in both the private and public sectors have been evicted after houses tested positive for the drug. Owners have faced huge bills for having their properties decontaminated. Chief scientist Sir Peter Gluckman says there's not a shred of evidence anywhere in the world that residues from smoking the drug cause a health risk. He says the only houses that should be tested are those where the drug has been manufactured. Rebekah Radford rented out her Hamilton home while she was overseas and had it tested when she returned. She told RNZ reporter Tom Furley the meth levels were over the supposedly safe level of 1.5mcg/100cm2. Her clean-up cost was $37,000.