NZ Herald Investigative reporter Kirsty Johnston joins Mike Yardley to talk about the Herald's latest investigation on New Zealand's methamphetamine epidemic.

A team of Herald journalists spent six months with users, former addicts and those who are trying to pull those addicted out.

Johnston says being an investigative reporter in the social services sphere, she was noticing a trend of meth addiction in her stories.

"It was just coming up all the time in all the stories I was doing, so I spoke to a couple of my colleagues on the team and we thought it was worth having a better look into."

The team spent most of their time in communities that are worst affected, including the likes of Kaitaia, Whangarei and Kawerau.

Johnston says a common theme amongst the users is a form of trauma they have suffered in their lives that they're trying to run away from.

LISTEN TO KIRSTY JOHNSTON TALK WITH MIKE YARDLEY ABOVE.