PARTY PILLS HELPING TO REDUCE ROAD TOLL - SURVEY

A Road Safety Advocacy Group Believes People Taking Party Pills Are
Helping Reduce the Road Toll.

Campaign Against Drugs on Roads (Candor) said the initial results of
a joint police and Environmental Science and Research Drug Driving
Study gave a reassuring message about the impact of BZP - the drug in
party pills - on road safety.

Candor Trust co-ordinator Rachael Ford said while drugs - including
cannabis, prescription drugs and methamphetamine - often cropped up
in the blood samples of dead road toll victims, BZP was found in less
than 0.5 per cent of them.

Ms Ford said the initial survey results - of 300 people - showed a
under-representation of party pills "given the truck loads consumed".

"Either BZP users are acting responsibly and not attempting to drive,
or it's plainly not a risk.

"We're cautiously interpreting these statistics as evidence the
availability of party pills just may reduce road trauma overall."

Ms Ford said while there had been some "real horror crashes" caused
by Ecstasy use among youth the same could not be said about party pills.

"It's fairly safe to say when emergency rooms admit party pill users,
the complaint is inevitably something nowhere near as serious as
injuries suffered in a road crash."

Party pill users spoken with - in a Candor phone survey - said they
had learned lessons about moderation after experiencing the "seedy
BZP hangover"- regarded as being worse than the usual kind, she said.

Candor was not advocating the use of party pills, Ms Ford said, but
the risk was that if the BZPs were taken off the shelves the toll could worsen.

"Tens of millions will be diverted back to the pockets of P dealers
and the dope and liquor industry. You only have to ask the cops what
proportion of high speed chases are led by hoons off their trolley on
P today - its a real hazard."

The side effects of party pills meant caution was needed and people
should avoid driving after use and if feeling affected, she said.

"Our main concern with licit party pills is to see responsible use
being promoted. As with alcohol we regard a sensible age limit as
absolutely essential."

Among the conclusions Candor said the survey revealed so far were:

The greatest problem was a cannabis alcohol mixture followed by
controlled drugs like opiates - 12 per cent of toll;

P-users were over-represented though not a significant chunk of toll
at 4 per cent;

Nearly 70 per cent of dead drivers had used alcohol and or risk drugs
yet only 14 per cent of them had used alcohol alone.

Ms Ford said checkpoints were like sieves and allowed over half of
impaired drivers to leak through.