DRUG USERS GO FOR LEGAL HIGH

Drug users are ditching P for the legal highs of party pills, sellers claim.

The claim is partly based on the popularity explosion of party pills
in Rotorua where some retailers are selling $2000 to $3000 worth of
party pills per week.

The herbal and caffeine pills range in price from $8 to $30 each
according to strength. There are also indications that cannabis
sales have dropped slightly and the use of methamphetamine, or P, is
levelling out.

Bay of Plenty crime manager Detective Inspector Garth Bryan said
although cannabis had been a huge problem in the region, there was
evidence trading had slowed in the past couple of years.

The latest issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal reports greater
awareness of health risks associated with P and increased drug
enforcement by police may have helped stabilise its use.

But Rotorua party pill sellers reckon the alternatives to illegal
highs are playing a big part.

Skin Graft Leather and Lace owner David Young said the recent talk
about banning party pills would only make the illegal drug market soar.

"There are many people I have got off illegal drugs and on legal
drugs. Everyone wants something to make them feel good and they will
go back to taking illegal drugs if party pills are not around."

He said he was selling party pills to men in their 60s who he was
sure had spent nearly a lifetime smoking cannabis. He said the
amount of money being spent on party pills had to be impacting on
tinny houses and P dealers.

A friend running a similar shop on Karangahape Rd in Auckland was
making $8000 a day, he said. Skin Graft Leather and Lace sells on
average $600 a day worth of party pills.

Wild Things owner Sue Rutherford said party pills were becoming more
popular because word was quickly spreading about the dangers of P.

"Some of them say they are better than P - P pretty much stuffs your
brain up whereas party pills are more safe. But in saying that, I
still get people coming in wanting to buy glass pipes and that's a
sign there are plenty of P smokers. I don't sell glass pipes for that reason."

Mr Bryan said police had no way of measuring the impact of party
pills on the illegal drug market.

"I don't think there has been an increase in the use of cannabis.
There may well have been a decrease as people are more aware of the
bad effects."

Cannabis remained a major concern, especially in the Bay as the
forests and weather made for ideal growing conditions.

"Cannabis is still the most widely used illicit drug on the market.
Its price has not really changed in the past 20 years and there has
always been a large supply around."

Mr Bryan said it was hard to determine whether the New Zealand
Medical Journal's predictions were correct.

Five P laboratories have been busted in the Bay this year, more than
any other year.

"But P is the new drug. At various times throughout history drugs
like heroin and LSD have come and gone ... looking historically you
would have to suspect that at some stage another new drug will be created."