Te Ara Oranga

The path to wellbeing

The Te Ara Oranga team supports people and whānau who are impacted by methamphetamine and want to make change, reduce harm for themselves and their whānau and move toward recovery and healing.

Text or call 0211 950 338

Te Ara Oranga

The path to wellbeing

The Te Ara Oranga team supports people and whānau who are impacted by methamphetamine and want to make change, reduce harm for themselves and their whānau and move toward recovery and healing.

Reduce the demand for methamphetamine 

View our Videos

  • Established in 2017

    Te Whatu Ora (formally Northland DHB), NZ Police together with community agencies lead Te Ara Oranga, the Methamphetamine Harm Reduction initiative in Northland that was launched in October 2017.

  • A partnership between community, Ngāti Hine Health Trust, The Salvation Army Bridge and Odyssey House, NZ Police and Health NZ Te Tai Tokerau

    The aim of Te Ara Oranga is to reduce the demand for methamphetamine through community and individually targeted projects that align the resources of Northland Police, Northland DHB, non-government agencies and the community. 

  • Focusing on delivering a holistic approach to health

    Te Ara Oranga is about working in a tangible and engaging style with the community and agencies, focusing on delivering a holistic approach to health and policing to produce better outcomes for all. The initiative links evidence-based health services with police prevention and enforcement activity.

Background

A successful proceeds of crime fund bid in 2017 provided 3M dollars of pilot funding to Police and Health to enhance their enforcement and treatment activities respectively to reduce Methamphetamine Harm. Read More

Vunerable

Northland communities are among the most vulnerable in New Zealand. High rates of poverty and crime combine with low rates of education and employment to provide a lucrative market for organised crime to peddle methamphetamine to those who seek an immediate escape from their reality.

Read more

Time to act

Large seizures of methamphetamine such as this 500kg bust on a Northland beach in 2016, violent gang crime including murders linked to methamphetamine and reports that methamphetamine was easier to get in Northland than cannabis led to a necessity to act

Read more

High consumption

One thing we didn’t know was, just how much meth was being consumed in Northland. we worked with the National Drug Intelligence Bureau and local council to introduce wastewater testing for drugs in Whangarei.

Read more

Quarter 1 - Jan to March 2025

Highlights Reel and Overview of Te Ara Oranga – A video that highlights the people, ideas and History that created Te Ara Oranga

We would especially like to acknowledge Whaea Jewel and Whaea Pam who are no longer with us, but contributed significantly to the Te Ara Oranga kaupapa.

Lets make a Change

Singer-songwriters Taniora (Daniel) Tauariki and Hone Winder-Murray take the inspirational words of Let’s Make A Change around Northland and get the community involved.

The Meth Cycle of Abuse

This video provides advice for whānau and families about the best time during the cycle of Methamphetamine (meth) abuse to connect with that person.

Meth is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system.

Also known as P, chalk, ice, and crystal, it takes the form of a white, odourless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol.

There is a wide range of use, ranging from occasional use, through to binge pattern, to heavy use.

 

Not all meth use ends up in chaos, just like not all people who use alcohol become alcoholics.


The Cycle of Meth

This image helps whānau and families understand the best time during the cycle of Methamphetamine (meth) abuse to connect with that person.