Pubdate: Mon, 17 Apr 2006
Source: Waikato Times (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2006 Independent Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/486

KIWI PARTY PILL RESEARCH COULD LEAD TO OZ BAN - PAPER

WAIKATO, New Zealand (NZPA) -- Research showing overdoses with  
"herbal" party pills in New Zealand have resulted in hundreds of  
people needing hospital treatment may lead to the pills being banned  
in Australia.

A study, by Waikato Hospital's Dr Tonia Nicholson, found 125 of 1043  
emergency admissions at a New Zealand hospital were the result of  
over-indulging in herbal party pills.

Cabinet Minister Jim Anderton, who is in charge of drugs policy, said  
in January there were three research projects currently underway into  
the effects of benzylpiperazine (BZP), the active ingredient in legal  
party pills.

If the pills, which can currently be sold to anyone over the age of  
18, were proved sufficiently dangerous they could be banned, he said.

The stimulants produce effects similar to amphetamines: users risk  
organ damage, seizures, high blood pressure and hyperthermia by  
taking too many or mixing them with alcohol.

Dr Nicholson said one New Zealander had died after mixing BZP with  
amphetamines and two others had been in intensive care after taking  
the pills.

The pills have been responsible for hundreds of recent drug overdoses  
in New Zealand, and Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration  
(TGA) is deciding whether their key ingredients - pepper extracts  
benzylpiperazine (BZP) and trifluromethylpiperazine - should be  
slapped with Australia-wide sales restrictions, the Sun Herald  
newspaper reported in Melbourne.

BZP pills are illegal in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia and  
are not readily available in Victorian retail outlets.

National's Otago MP Jacqui Dean has previously called for the  
Government to impose tighter restrictions on advertising, banning the  
sale of pills from bars and liquor shops and keeping them under the  
counter and out of sight in shops.
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