Pubdate: Wed, 14 Jun 2006
Source: Dominion Post, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2006 The Dominion Post
Contact:  http://www.dompost.co.nz
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2550
Author: Nikki Macdonald and NZPA

ONE IN FIVE ON 'LEGAL HIGHS'

Doctors and most people who took part in a survey on party pills want 
a crackdown on the "legal highs" after the study revealed their 
popularity is booming.

The findings of the Massey University survey have taken the 
Government by surprise, with one in five young people saying they 
have tried party pills.

Heaviest use is among those aged 20 to 24 - 38 per cent report using 
the pills in the past year.

The pills, which typically contain benzylpiperazine and mimic the 
effects of low-strength amphetamine, or speed, have been available in 
New Zealand since about 2000. The industry estimates 20 million pills 
have been sold since then and the sector is worth $24 million a year.

Party pills have sparked serious concerns because of their wide 
availability - they are sold in dairies and convenience stores - 
reports of seizures, panic attacks and difficulties sleeping, and the 
lack of research into their long-term effects.

The Government last year restricted the sale of BZP-based pills to 
people aged over 18. Sixty per cent of those surveyed believe the 
present regulation is too light.

The survey, of 2010 people aged 13-45, found side-effects range from 
heavy sweating, loss of appetite and tremors to mood swings. One in 
100 users has had a party pill-related emergency department visit in 
the past year. One in 250 has been admitted to hospital.

The average party pill dose is two to three pills - but four out of 
10 people report having used four or more pills at once.

Emergency medicine specialist Paul Gee said there was "more than 
enough" evidence now available to outlaw party pills completely. He 
claims they are responsible for triggering psychological problems 
among young people.

"We have encountered people under the influence of BZP who have 
threatened family members with weapons and in one case set fire to 
their own house while barricaded inside.

"You get some people coming in who haven't slept for three days."

Christchurch emergency medicine specialist Michael Ardagh said his 
department saw up to six young people a weekend suffering 
side-effects from the pills. Most experienced a racing heart and 
intense anxiety, but at the severe end of the spectrum patients had seizures.

The study also suggested party pills were more likely to be a gateway 
out of illegal drugs rather than into them.

Party pill pioneer Matt Bowden said banning the products would drive 
the industry underground, making them more dangerous and more expensive.

Mr Bowden, now a spokesman for the Social Tonics Association of New 
Zealand, said the pills had been designed to lure people away from 
illegal drugs. "Kiwis have consumed about 20 million pills in the 
past five or six years and there have been no deaths."

Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said the research would be 
referred to the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs to consider at its 
July meeting. The committee would review the status of BZP when more 
evidence of its effects were known.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman