RECALL FOR PARTY PILLS - EXPERTS CHECK 'GERANIUM OIL' COMPONENT

Party pill retailers are being asked to stop selling some new
generation pills following tests of a commonly found chemical in the
drugs that has left some users sick.

The Health Ministry has instructed health boards to recall party
drugs that contain the powdered form of DMAA. Labels on party pills
commonly refer to DMAA as "geranium oil".

The ministry's recall notice follows concern that pill makers have
simply swapped BZP - which was banned six months ago - for DMAA.

The substance has been described as the main "chemical that gives
many of the new party pills their kick". It can also be found in some
body-building supplements.

DMAA stands for 1,3 dimethylamylamine, which health officials have
blamed for putting four users in Waikato Hospital last month.

Party pill brands, such as Sunrise, are marketed as containing 99.9
per cent DMAA.

The substance is not a banned or controlled substance, but that is
likely to be discussed by the Government's expert drug advisory
committee at a meeting next month.

Though the ministry did not consider DMAA a "significant public
health risk", it was concerned after the Waikato cases, a spokeswoman said.

A Waikato District Health Board spokeswoman said its medical officer
of health, Dell Hood, alerted the ministry after four Thames users
suffered an extreme reaction to the substance.

The Dominion Post first reported in May that some new generation pill
users had been admitted to Wellington Hospital with "semi-hysterical
type reactions".

The ministry ordered Environmental Science and Research to test the
new pills following April's BZP ban, which it said yesterday had
tentatively identified DMAA as an active ingredient. ESR was,
however, still awaiting an international authenticated reference
standard before it could formally identify the substance.

Drug Foundation director Ross Bell said the situation was no surprise
as manufacturers were always going to come up with an alternative to
BZP, particularly with such a lucrative market.

"Chemists and party pill makers will always stay ahead of the regulators."

Users needed good public health information as they could not rely on
manufacturers' claims, he said.