ONE PILL OFF THE SHELVES, ANOTHER GRABS ITS PLACE

Today is the last day that retailers throughout the country can sell
BZP and related substances, and Gisborne retailers are expecting the
last of their stocks to sell today.

Hundreds of people are stockpiling cut-price party pills before they
become illegal from midnight tonight, when pills containing
benzylpiperazine (BZP), will be outlawed after Parliament passed an
amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act, reclassifying it and related
substances as class C drugs -- the same as cannabis.

Owner of Gisborne outlet Cultural Experience, John Parfit, sold large
numbers of the pills and wonders whether banning BZP will cause more
harm than good.

"Business has been steady, and people are coming in to buy up the last
of it this afternoon.

"I think the ban will just result in a lot more glass pipes -- that's
what my customers tell me, because it's filling the role of P but
without the criminal involvement or health problems."

Mobil Portside owner John Hopkins said they had sold out of BZP pills
several weeks ago, after a rush when the deadline was announced, and
are waiting to see what happens with the law on new pills before restocking.

Retailers throughout the country must hand over their stocks to police
tomorrow and, from April 1, it will be illegal to possess, sell, buy,
import or manufacture BZP and related substances that are the main
psychoactive ingredients in the majority of so-called "party pills".

Penalties for possession include up to three months in prison, while
suppliers could be jailed for up to eight years.

There will be an amnesty on personal use for six months but it will be
illegal for anyone to be in possession of more than 100 pills, or five
grams of BZP.

The legislation has not been universally popular with health
professionals either.

The best argument against the criminalising of the sale and
consumption is if we do not learn the lessons of history, we are
doomed to repeat it, says Dr John Marks, head of psychiatry at
Gisborne Hospital.

"If you look at the effect prohibition had on America, it took it from
being a fairly law-abiding nation to becoming one with little or no
respect for the law, and it also spawned a generation of ruthless
gangsters who are still there to this day.

"All this law will do is give criminal gangs another market. About 15
years ago there was a conference in Italy to propose making tobacco
illegal -- and it turned out to be funded by the Mafia."

The law change is not due to health effects from BZP, he
said.

"There are none whatsoever. It's the usual Dutch auction of who can be
the toughest on drugs, which is driven by a puritanical antipathy
toward easy pleasure."

As the BZP is cleared from shelves, new non-BZP highs are expected to
flood the market from tomorrow.

The new pills should be tested before they are released for public
consumption, the New Zealand Drug Foundation says.

The drug foundation has called for a voluntary moratorium on sales of
all new non-BZP party pills until an independent analysis has been
carried out to determine their risk.

Foundation executive director Ross Bell said the market was in the
same "risky situation" that existed when BZP pills were first introduced.

"We don't know what's in them, we don't know their effects and so we
are not able to provide good health and safety advice to consumers. We
cannot rely on the industry to provide unbiased information," said Mr
Bell.