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
Showing posts with label party pills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party pills. Show all posts
Monday, November 26, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
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
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
Friday, November 16, 2007
EU to ban party pills as experts warn of big risks
'PARTY pills' - which are now legally sold as ecstasy substitutes at dance clubs in Ireland and on the web, or as slimming pills in health stores - are likely to be banned throughout the EU.
BZP (benzylpiperazine) tablets are synthetic and work on the central nervous system. They are already illegal in seven EU states, the US and Australia but legal in Ireland, the UK, New Zealand and Canada.
EU justice ministers will be asked in September to ban the pills in all 27 member states. European Commission experts, at the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), have warned of serious side-effects. Speaking in Brussels yesterday, they said 13 EU countries had found the tablets increasingly turning up among other drugs.
If most justice ministers agree in September, as Commission officials expect, their sale and distribution should be made a criminal offence no later than a year after the decision.
The tablets are relatively easily and cheaply manufactured, mainly in India, and have been turning up in increasingly large numbers in drugs seizures.
The average profit is at least 300 times the cost of ingredients.
A recent drugs bust in the UK yielded among various quantities of illicit drugs some 65,000 BZP tablets. They are becoming increasingly popular in Northern Ireland and are used to bulk out other illegal 'recreational' drugs.
Withdrawn
European Commission officials yesterday admitted that to date the drugs have not been associated with organised crime but conceded this might happen after a ban.
BZP, originally marketed as a potential anti-depressant in the 1970s, was quickly withdrawn when its effects - similar to those of amphetamine - were discovered.
It started to turn up in Europe just under seven years ago and more recently in Irish nightclubs and at private parties. It can be obtained through health-food stores or from various websites where it is sometimes marketed as 'legal ecstasy' but is also known as A2, Frenzy and Nemesis.
The drug causes euphoria and increased sensitivity especially to dance music.
It is associated with anxiety, delusion, hallucination, paranoia, psychosis, liver failure and seizures.
Source: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-to-ban-party-pills-as-experts-warn-of-big-risks-1039273.html
BZP (benzylpiperazine) tablets are synthetic and work on the central nervous system. They are already illegal in seven EU states, the US and Australia but legal in Ireland, the UK, New Zealand and Canada.
EU justice ministers will be asked in September to ban the pills in all 27 member states. European Commission experts, at the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), have warned of serious side-effects. Speaking in Brussels yesterday, they said 13 EU countries had found the tablets increasingly turning up among other drugs.
If most justice ministers agree in September, as Commission officials expect, their sale and distribution should be made a criminal offence no later than a year after the decision.
The tablets are relatively easily and cheaply manufactured, mainly in India, and have been turning up in increasingly large numbers in drugs seizures.
The average profit is at least 300 times the cost of ingredients.
A recent drugs bust in the UK yielded among various quantities of illicit drugs some 65,000 BZP tablets. They are becoming increasingly popular in Northern Ireland and are used to bulk out other illegal 'recreational' drugs.
Withdrawn
European Commission officials yesterday admitted that to date the drugs have not been associated with organised crime but conceded this might happen after a ban.
BZP, originally marketed as a potential anti-depressant in the 1970s, was quickly withdrawn when its effects - similar to those of amphetamine - were discovered.
It started to turn up in Europe just under seven years ago and more recently in Irish nightclubs and at private parties. It can be obtained through health-food stores or from various websites where it is sometimes marketed as 'legal ecstasy' but is also known as A2, Frenzy and Nemesis.
The drug causes euphoria and increased sensitivity especially to dance music.
It is associated with anxiety, delusion, hallucination, paranoia, psychosis, liver failure and seizures.
Source: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/eu-to-ban-party-pills-as-experts-warn-of-big-risks-1039273.html
Doctors warn against party pills
Doctors have weighed into the debate over party pills, with the Medical Association saying people should not take them even though they are legal.
Association chairman Ross Boswell says there are growing doubts about the safety of the BZP-based pills.
He says people who insist on taking them should not take large doses, or mix them with alcohol, other drugs, or prescription medicine.
The government is considering whether the pills should be banned or at least have their distribution restricted.
Source: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/877036
Association chairman Ross Boswell says there are growing doubts about the safety of the BZP-based pills.
He says people who insist on taking them should not take large doses, or mix them with alcohol, other drugs, or prescription medicine.
The government is considering whether the pills should be banned or at least have their distribution restricted.
Source: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/877036
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
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
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Party Pills vs Tobacco and Alcohol
Toddlers as young as 18 months have swallowed party pills - which contain a drug that can cause potentially fatal kidney failure - according to figures from the National Poisons Centre.
National MP Jacqui Dean, who is campaigning for the pills to be banned, quoted the statistics to Parliament's health select committee yesterday on the first day of submissions on legislation to outlaw them.
The figures show that from July 2002 to last October, the centre was contacted regarding 16 children and teenagers under 16 consuming piperazine-based party pills. This included two aged 18 months, two of 23 months and one of 24 months.
A medical toxicologist at the Otago University-based centre, Dr John Fountain, said it had no information on the outcomes for any of the youngsters.
Children who take party pills could suffer seizures and muscle breakdown and their kidneys could go into acute renal failure ending in death. Some adults have also reported seizures.
Mrs Dean said it was clearly dangerous for children to take party pills.
Christchurch Hospital emergency department physician Paul Gee recalled that two or three toddlers aged about 2 had been brought to the hospital by parents concerned their children had consumed party pills, but it was unclear whether they had.
The children were thought to have got into bottles or handbags and their parents thought they were acting strangely.
"We keep them in for three or four hours and try and assess whether there is any sign of toxicity. We certainly didn't see any toxicity."
It was not clear whether young children would be more or less susceptible to the adverse effects of party pills, which for adults included sleeplessness, coma and seizures.
Dr Gee said hospitals saw children who had ingested many kinds of medicines, most commonly paracetamol tablets and syrup, even when they had been stored in "child-proof" containers or packaging. He had seen party pills in various kinds of packaging including bags - and plastic boxes that would entice children. "I've seen some quite inviting ones that look like they are Tic Tac boxes."
The bill, which has strong support in Parliament, would make BZP and related party pills class C1 drugs, making people caught possessing them liable to a maximum of three months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to a $500.
National MP Jacqui DeanThe select committee's chairwoman, Green MP Sue Kedgley, questioned Mrs Dean on whether it would make more sense to increase the restrictions on the marketing and sale of tobacco and alcohol before banning party pills, because alcohol and tobacco were associated with thousands of deaths a year in New Zealand and party pills with none.
Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10469204
National MP Jacqui Dean, who is campaigning for the pills to be banned, quoted the statistics to Parliament's health select committee yesterday on the first day of submissions on legislation to outlaw them.
The figures show that from July 2002 to last October, the centre was contacted regarding 16 children and teenagers under 16 consuming piperazine-based party pills. This included two aged 18 months, two of 23 months and one of 24 months.
A medical toxicologist at the Otago University-based centre, Dr John Fountain, said it had no information on the outcomes for any of the youngsters.
Children who take party pills could suffer seizures and muscle breakdown and their kidneys could go into acute renal failure ending in death. Some adults have also reported seizures.
Mrs Dean said it was clearly dangerous for children to take party pills.
Christchurch Hospital emergency department physician Paul Gee recalled that two or three toddlers aged about 2 had been brought to the hospital by parents concerned their children had consumed party pills, but it was unclear whether they had.
The children were thought to have got into bottles or handbags and their parents thought they were acting strangely.
"We keep them in for three or four hours and try and assess whether there is any sign of toxicity. We certainly didn't see any toxicity."
It was not clear whether young children would be more or less susceptible to the adverse effects of party pills, which for adults included sleeplessness, coma and seizures.
Dr Gee said hospitals saw children who had ingested many kinds of medicines, most commonly paracetamol tablets and syrup, even when they had been stored in "child-proof" containers or packaging. He had seen party pills in various kinds of packaging including bags - and plastic boxes that would entice children. "I've seen some quite inviting ones that look like they are Tic Tac boxes."
The bill, which has strong support in Parliament, would make BZP and related party pills class C1 drugs, making people caught possessing them liable to a maximum of three months imprisonment and/or a fine of up to a $500.
National MP Jacqui DeanThe select committee's chairwoman, Green MP Sue Kedgley, questioned Mrs Dean on whether it would make more sense to increase the restrictions on the marketing and sale of tobacco and alcohol before banning party pills, because alcohol and tobacco were associated with thousands of deaths a year in New Zealand and party pills with none.
Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10469204
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
