Pubdate: Thu, 12 Mar 2009
Source: Xtra West (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Pink Triangle Press
Contact:  http://www.xtra.ca/site/toronto2/html/city.shtm
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2648
Author: Sondi Bruner
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/BZP (BZP)

'LEGAL E' IN LEGAL LIMBO

DRUGS / Health Canada reviewing Purepillz

Hywel Tuscano was sitting at his desk last April when a teenager came 
through the door and asked, "Do you know that they're selling legal E 
in Downtown Vancouver?"

Incredulous, Tuscano immediately went to Davie St to find out for 
himself. What he found was Purepillz, a line of "social tonics"  - 
packaged pills marketed on store shelves as a safer alternative to 
illegal street drugs.

Purepillz, a Canadian-owned company, has been in business for only 
two years. Its selection of products contain the core ingredient 
benzylpiperazine (BZP) and 3-trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine 
(3-TFMPP), which mimic the effects of drugs like ecstasy and crystal meth.

BZP is banned in the US, New Zealand, Australia and several countries 
in Europe but it's still legal in Canada  - at least for now.

And that's good news to Erica McCormick, who first heard about 
Purepillz when she was working at the Taboo sex show a few booths 
down from the company. Initially skeptical of the pills' claims, her 
disbelief quickly vanished when she tried them.

"I thought it was great  - it was awesome, exactly like ecstasy," she 
says. "I'd much rather do it [Purepillz] than ecstasy and mess up my body."

She's even converted several of her friends into fans, she says.

McCormick thinks the Purepillz line is a great substitute for harder 
drugs because it provides similar effects without the potential for 
physical damage.

Tuscano's feedback about the pills' effects is more lukewarm: "The 
buzz was kind of the same," he says, "but it was a little bit off."

Purepillz owner Adam Wookey says the benefits of buying Purepillz are 
that they're non-addictive and they're a safer alternative to street 
drugs, where you may not know what you're getting.

Tuscano agrees. "I consider Purepillz safer than street drugs, 
because you don't know what's in street drugs, and they're often cut 
with other stuff. If people like them [Purepillz] and want to use 
them, then all the power to them.

"People do weirder things," he shrugs.

Wookey says he has heard nothing but positive feedback from Purepillz users.

"They just love it," he claims. "From the people who use it, they 
say, 'I'm so glad I have something safe and consistent. I just love 
what you guys are doing.'"

Still, Purepillz are not without their side effects, says Dirceu Campos.

"They did definitely make me high, but I found that they gave me more 
of a headache than street drugs would have," he says.

"I introduced it to some of my other friends," he continues. "And 
some of them, their headaches were worse so they of swore off them." 
(Campos says he and his friends followed the dosage prescribed on the package.)

Campos tried Purepillz a few times, but they were pulled off the 
market before he got the chance to fully experiment with them. He 
says if they were sold in shops here, he would use them again.

"I don't see why I wouldn't try them again. I don't know if I would 
purchase them every weekend, but I think they make a good harm 
reduction alternative."

But Purepillz may not be around for much longer if Health Canada has 
anything to say about it.

Last summer, authorities yanked Purepillz products from shelves 
across the country after a man in Toronto died during Pride Week 
after consuming the Purepillz drug called PureRush. Reports never 
conclusively linked the death to PureRush (the man had a pre-existing 
heart condition).

Still, Health Canada sent out an advisory warning the public against 
using Purepillz products and launched a review to determine whether 
BZP should be placed on the list of banned substances under the 
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

That review is still underway and no deadline for its completion has 
yet been set. So the pills are in legal limbo, their status uncertain 
but not yet illegal.

That hasn't stopped Health Canada officials from declaring the sale 
of Purepillz illegal on the basis that  - while BZP is not yet 
included in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  - the pills 
themselves are covered by the Food and Drugs Act and therefore need a 
drug identification number, which they do not have.

"Products containing BZP are considered drugs under the Food and 
Drugs Act and require a drug identification number to be sold," a 
Health Canada official informed Xtra West in an email after repeated 
requests for an interview. "Health Canada has not issued a DIN for 
any product containing BZP. Any product containing BZP being sold in 
Canada is being sold illegally as unapproved products."

While Purepillz are no longer on shelves in Vancouver stores, they 
are still available online, through independent direct sellers in the 
city and at trade shows. The company also has plans to open its own 
store in the coming months on East Hastings.

Health Canada says it can take steps to prevent people from buying 
Purepillz, such as issuing public advisories and border import 
alerts, conducting inspections and even seizing products, but it 
can't actually shut the company down for non-compliance with the Food 
and Drugs Act.

It can, however, launch a criminal investigation against the company. 
But officials don't discuss investigations publicly, as a matter of policy.

Wookey believes the Purepillz line is only being labelled as drugs 
under the Food and Drugs Act because of a flimsy definition that 
defines a drug as something that is sold for use in "restoring, 
correcting or modifying organic functions in human beings or animals."

"They're claiming it's illegal because it modifies your organic 
functions," he says, "but there are many products on the market that 
change your organic functions, like sugar and caffeine. They're using 
it as a catch-all phrase. It's a false authority."

Wookey and Health Canada butted heads at January's Taboo sex show 
when Health Canada showed up with the Vancouver Police Department for 
backup and tried to confiscate Purepillz products.

Furious, Wookey stood his ground and refused to let them take 
anything, telling Health Canada that they needed a warrant to 
lawfully seize the pills.

Officials eventually left empty-handed, according to Wookey.

Health Canada acknowledges that it has tried to confiscate Purepillz 
products because it is concerned for the health of Canadians.

"In response to its concerns regarding risk to health, Health Canada 
has, in the past, seized unapproved drugs containing BZP and TFMPP at 
numerous retail locations across Canada," a Health Canada official 
said in an email.

"Health Canada remains concerned that these products continue to be 
sold illegally. When Health Canada becomes aware of violative 
products being sold, such as drugs containing BZP and TFMPP, we take 
compliance and enforcement actions."

Wookey maintains his products are safe. A 2007 risk assessment of 
social tonics conducted by experts in New Zealand found that 
consuming substances like BZP is safer than eating peanut butter, 
swimming, kayaking, smoking or drinking alcohol; and that the chance 
of BZP inflicting permanent harm is about the same as being struck by 
lightning.

Another study conducted by researchers in Christchurch, New Zealand 
points to patients having mild to moderate toxicity and symptoms like 
heart palpitations, insomnia and headaches. Health Canada says the 
pills cause increased blood pressure, increased body temperature and paranoia.

In New Zealand, where social tonics first gained notoriety, over 24 
million pills have been consumed with no documented deaths or 
permanent harm. So far in Canada, half a million pills have been sold 
with no serious adverse effects reported.

"This product has never killed anybody and has never caused 
significant injury," Wookey maintains, adding that the only danger to 
taking the pills is taking the wrong dosage, something the company 
attempts to avert by providing clear directions in the stores and on 
the package.

Ultimately, Tuscano believes the controversy surrounding Purepillz 
and BZP is an opportunity for more meaningful discussions about drug use.

He says the problem lies in the lack of open discussion in our 
culture about drug use.

Drugs are just there but nobody talks about it, he says, unless it's 
in the context of addiction.

"Our only conversations about drugs are the scariest part of them  - 
which is addiction  - when we should just be talking about the way 
our bodies feel," Tuscano says.

"I just think there needs to be more dialogue about drugs and what they mean."

Substance use is a personal choice, Tuscano continues, and as a 
culture we should not only be talking about the risks, but also the pleasures.

"People must learn for themselves which additions and subtractions 
yield the effects they're looking for and what consequences each one 
carries," he says.

"I work in a sugar and caffeine-fueled office," he adds. "It's no 
different than taking something from 10 pm to 2 am."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom