Pubdate: Fri, 22 Dec 2006
Source: Nelson Mail, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2006 Fairfax New Zealand Limited
Contact:  http://www.nelsonmail.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1069

TO BAN, OR NOT?

In spite of what the supporters and detractors of party pills think, 
the Government does not face a simple choice as it examines 
implementing a ban said the Nelson Mail in an editorial on Friday.

The pills have been legal for long enough for them to become strongly 
established on the recreational drug list. In the six years since 
they emerged as a fashionable new drug they have been sampled by a 
high percentage of young New Zealanders.

A survey released in June showed that a startling 38 percent of Kiwis 
aged 20-24 had used party pills in the previous 12 months, while 
another survey found that one in five aged 13 to 45 had tried them. 
These figures indicate very wide use - and acceptance - of a drug 
that was previously unheard of, and now the Government is considering 
attempting to shut down the supply.

There is a good reason to contemplate this step: after months of 
evaluation, an expert advisory committee on drugs, reporting to 
Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton, has declared that the primary 
ingredient in most of the pills, benzylpiperazene, has worrying 
effects on many users and poses a "moderate risk of harm".

Such was the concern that a study by the Medical Research Institute 
was stopped because the researchers were concerned about the adverse 
effects on its subjects. This, plus a long list of hospital 
admissions and anecdotal evidence of illness, proves that BZP is not 
as harmless as some of its proponents argue.

However, a ban on this one drug, perhaps extended to include the 
other party pill staple, trifluromethylpiperazine, would make 
criminals out of thousands of young New Zealanders without stopping 
the trade. Party pills would go underground to join the long list of 
other illegal recreational drugs available to New Zealanders, some of 
which are far more potent and deadly. Is that what Mr Anderton wants? 
Of course not. He is acting with the best of intentions but is up 
against a youth culture that wallows in intoxication obtained by any 
means, legal or not. That is the real issue and it cannot be 
addressed by adding party pills to the illegal drug list.

There is no satisfactory answer but the least harmful way forward is 
to regulate party pill manufacture and sale with the same rigour 
applied to the drug that does most damage, alcohol. At least, users 
could rely on accurate information about dosages and make their 
purchases untainted by illegality. It's hardly ideal, but better than 
a ban that can't succeed.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman