ONE IN FIVE ON 'LEGAL HIGHS'

Doctors and most people who took part in a survey on party pills want
a crackdown on the "legal highs" after the study revealed their
popularity is booming.

The findings of the Massey University survey have taken the
Government by surprise, with one in five young people saying they
have tried party pills.

Heaviest use is among those aged 20 to 24 - 38 per cent report using
the pills in the past year.

The pills, which typically contain benzylpiperazine and mimic the
effects of low-strength amphetamine, or speed, have been available in
New Zealand since about 2000. The industry estimates 20 million pills
have been sold since then and the sector is worth $24 million a year.

Party pills have sparked serious concerns because of their wide
availability - they are sold in dairies and convenience stores -
reports of seizures, panic attacks and difficulties sleeping, and the
lack of research into their long-term effects.

The Government last year restricted the sale of BZP-based pills to
people aged over 18. Sixty per cent of those surveyed believe the
present regulation is too light.

The survey, of 2010 people aged 13-45, found side-effects range from
heavy sweating, loss of appetite and tremors to mood swings. One in
100 users has had a party pill-related emergency department visit in
the past year. One in 250 has been admitted to hospital.

The average party pill dose is two to three pills - but four out of
10 people report having used four or more pills at once.

Emergency medicine specialist Paul Gee said there was "more than
enough" evidence now available to outlaw party pills completely. He
claims they are responsible for triggering psychological problems
among young people.

"We have encountered people under the influence of BZP who have
threatened family members with weapons and in one case set fire to
their own house while barricaded inside.

"You get some people coming in who haven't slept for three days."

Christchurch emergency medicine specialist Michael Ardagh said his
department saw up to six young people a weekend suffering
side-effects from the pills. Most experienced a racing heart and
intense anxiety, but at the severe end of the spectrum patients had seizures.

The study also suggested party pills were more likely to be a gateway
out of illegal drugs rather than into them.

Party pill pioneer Matt Bowden said banning the products would drive
the industry underground, making them more dangerous and more expensive.

Mr Bowden, now a spokesman for the Social Tonics Association of New
Zealand, said the pills had been designed to lure people away from
illegal drugs. "Kiwis have consumed about 20 million pills in the
past five or six years and there have been no deaths."

Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said the research would be
referred to the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs to consider at its
July meeting. The committee would review the status of BZP when more
evidence of its effects were known.