Herald investigation: Party pill pushers beat the ban

Experimental "next-generation" party pills designed to side-step next month's Government ban have hit the streets.

One test batch put a man who took them in hospital.

A Weekend Herald investigation has found at least one of the new pills contains a substance police believe is illegal.

A legal loophole means party pill makers can put products on the market without having to prove they are safe.

Doctors say the new pills being created in the rush to meet demand may be as dangerous as those being banned.

The Government aims to have its ban on core party pill ingredient BZP in effect by Christmas.
The law change will classify BZP as a class C drug.

A range of pills being marketed as "non-BZP" is now on shop shelves. The pills, with names such as "Neuro Blast", cost $40 for a pack of three.

A man who took part in a trial of non-BZP pills for Auckland company London Underground was hospitalised when he found himself almost unable to breath, went numb and had his blood pressure almost double after taking two pills in August.

He said he felt he was going to die when he was hit by a "a surge of adrenalin into my heart".
The Ministry of Health says other users of next-generation pills have had heart palpitations and their fingers or toes have turned blue.

The Neuro Blast pills are being investigated by the police national drug intelligence bureau after scientific testing found they contained a stimulating substance called diphenyl prolinol.
Bureau head Mick Alexander said police believed they could prove this was a close version or "analogue" of pipradrol, a stimulant with side effects ranging from insomnia to psychosis and convulsions.

He would not comment further, saying legal action was possible.
London Underground refused to discuss the pills with the Weekend Herald and did not return calls about the police allegations.

A staff member, who would only give his name as Stan, said he knew of problems experienced by one of the trial participants but would not say what was in the pills.
He said Neuro Blast was no longer in shops - but the Weekend Herald bought some in the city yesterday.

Mr Alexander said police were aware parts of the multi-million dollar party pill industry were "pushing boundaries" with "obscure compounds" before the BZP ban.
"There are party pill suppliers selling pills without even knowing what is in them. If I was a user I would just stay away."

Mr Alexander said the party pill industry was exploiting a loophole in the Misuse of Drugs Act which meant manufacturers did not have to prove pills were safe before putting them on sale, as happened with food and medicine. Instead, the onus was on police to prove the pills were dangerous.

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10473827

Drug Rehab News - New Zealand Outlaws "Party Pills"

The New Zealand government has decided to ban what they call party pills that contain benzylpiperazine (BZP) and triflouro-methyl-phenylpiperazine (TFMPP). Known in New Zealand as Herbal Highs, Pep Pills or Dance Pills, these drugs have been legal for several years. In 2005, the NZ government added restrictions to make them only available to people over 18 and a new law expected to pass in 2007 will ban the drugs entirely. Although the drugs are currently legal, they can be dangerous in themselves and they are part and parcel of the after-hours drug scene that leads so many young adults to powerfully addictive narcotics and eventually into drug rehab.

Estimated to be a $30 million industry in New Zealand, the manufacture and sale of the pills was originally allowed to counter the growing number of people taking illegal amphetamines and the associated rise in drug addiction and violence. The drugs effects are similar to and, in some cases, indistinguishable from amphetamines, including MDMA. Their popularity means that an estimated 5 million pills will be sold in New Zealand in 2007 before the ban takes effect. Once the new law is passed, anyone caught supplying, manufacturing or exporting the pills would face a penalty of up to eight years imprisonment, and anyone caught in possession of the pills could be fined and imprisoned for up to three months.

Why the change in heart? Although much is still unknown about the drugs, including whether or not someone will require drug rehab to get off them, BZP is known to have adverse effects such as dilated pupils, dryness of the mouth, itching, confusion, agitation, tremor, dystonia (sustained muscle contractions causing twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures), headache, dizziness, anxiety, insomnia, vomiting, chest pain, tachycardia, hypertension, palpitations, collapse, hyperventilation, hyperthermia, urine retention and, at its most extreme, psychosis, renal failure and seizures.

BZP is already banned in a few countries, including the USA, Australia, Britain, Sweden, but it still available in many countries. In March this year, the European Union initiated an investigation into the health and social risks of the substance.

Just this week, a young woman in Ireland collapsed and required hospital treatment after taking BZP pills that are legally marketed as an alternative to Ecstasy in some 30 shops across Ireland. And as long ago as 2001, a report from University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland details the death of a young woman attributed to a combination of BZP and MDMA.

From anyones perspective, a drug that causes physical collapse or death is not desirable. When the proposed ban in New Zealand takes effect, well find out how addictive these drugs really are and how many people wind up in drug rehab.From anyones perspective, a drug that causes physical collapse or death is not desirable. When the proposed ban in New Zealand takes effect, well find out how addictive these drugs really are and how many people wind up in drug rehab, trying to get off them.

Source: http://camera-filterslgqqrj.blogspot.com/2007/11/drug-rehab-news-new-zealand-outlaws.html

BZP party pill ban passes committee hurdle

Parliament's health select committee has ticked off the bill to ban BZP-based party pills and recommended that it be passed.

BZP (benzylpiperazine) is the active ingredient in most party pills.
The bill was introduced in September, and drew many submissions when it was sent to the select committee for public input.

The select committee's recommendation was supported by a majority of its members.
The Green Party and the Maori Party disagreed with the recommendation and put in minority reports.

The Greens said the bill was "politically expedient, rushed, knee-jerk legislation" which might increase rather than reduce the harm associated with party pills.

"It will enable some MPs and the media to table thump about being `harsh on drugs' but in our view it is likely to result in many people switching to more harmful, illegal risky drugs like ecstasy and methamphetamine and new generation party pills," the Greens said.
The Maori Party said it did not agree that banning the pills was the best way to reduce their use and minimise harmful effects.

"The Maori Party considers that a strictly enforced, strongly regulated regime, with monitoring of resultant use and harm levels, is a better first step than prohibition," it said.
The bill will now go back on Parliament's agenda for its second reading.

After it has passed that, it will still have to go through its committee and third reading stages before it becomes law.

Since the bill was introduced there have been reports that some manufacturers are trying to beat a ban by using alternative chemicals.

Earlier this month a man who tested a "new generation" party pill ended up in hospital after taking two of them.
He had taken part in a trial of non-BZP pills for Auckland company London Underground.
He said he felt he was going to die when his heart was hit by a surge of adrenaline that almost doubled his blood pressure.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4274362a11.html