FUNK PILLS: GETTING ON A 'LEGAL HIGH'

No Longer All That Ecstatic Over Ecstasy, Britons Are Showing A
Growing Interest in Alternatives to Hard Drugs

They have exotic names like Amsterdam Gold, Funk Pills and Ayahuasca
Sacrament, and promise a spectrum of effects that range from the
mildly euphoric to "ecstasy-style" energy rushes and the full-on
hallucinogenic experience.

But these are not drugs where Britons have to break the law to sell,
buy or consume them - they are all completely legal.

Dozens of both new and ancient types of "legal highs" derived from
herbs, plants and cacti from South America and Asia, and synthetic
stimulants from New Zealand, are now available at often low prices
from Internet-based companies and an increasing number of "head" shops
around Britain.

Ironically, the trade has been stimulated by the British government's
decision last year to ban so-called "magic mushrooms," containing the
hallucinogenic psilocin, which had been sold openly through the
Internet and places like Camden Market in north London.

The ban left a gap in the market, with both consumers and vendors
looking for new products.

Mark Evans, of everyonedoesit.com, one of the leading Internet-based
mail order operations, said the increase in trade since last year had
been "massive."

He added: "There is a huge gap in the market. These consumers are not
going to disappear, they are just looking for alternatives."

Evans, whose company also sells cannabis seeds for growing, said there
had been a change in the culture of people who consumed recreational
drugs.

"We do a lot of festivals and speak to people who say they are fed up
with dealers and taking drugs - like ecstasy - where they cannot
always be confident that they know what is in the pill. People want
something, which will not poison them and they know what they are buying."

Although many of the organic-based legal highs are, it is claimed,
ones used by primitive communities for millennia, the biggest seller,
Funk Pills with names like Flying Angel and Silver Bullet, have been
in existence only for a few years; and sales have rocketed in the past
six months.

The Funk Pills, which sell for between $11 Cdn and $15, come from New
Zealand. They are made by companies licensed by the government there,
after it decided that they were a less harmful substitute for illegal
drugs, such as methamphetamine.

It created a new category in its drug laws to cover "non-traditional
designer substances."

Also known as P.E.P pills, they contain the stimulant benzylpiperazine
(BZP), which is banned in the United States, Denmark and Australia,
together with other chemicals from the piperazine family, which are
also used to create Viagra, although they have no effect on sexual
performance.

According to DrugScope, the independent advice body, while some users
are keen on the pills, attributing genuine ecstasy style effects,
others are more skeptical.

The pills do come with warnings about dosage levels, driving or using
machinery. Side effects can include those normally found with ecstasy
or amphetamine use, such as dehydration, anxiety and insomnia.

Other big sellers are Spice Smoking Blends, a new version of the
herbal mixes, which have been around for many years, as legal
alternatives to cannabis.

"Herbal substitutes were always a bit of a joke, but many people say
these are the closest thing to marijuana yet," Evans said.

At the other end of the scale from Funk Pills are the $25 peyote
cacti. They contain the hallucinogenic mescaline and have a similar
effect to LSD. It was the drug used by writer Aldous Huxley before he
wrote The Doors of Perception, which influenced the growth in use of
mind-altering drugs in the 1960s.

Native American tribes have used it for centuries, as a shamanic plant
that can create visions of an alternate world.

"It is selling very well at the moment, a lot more in demand since the
mushroom ban," said Chris Bovey, who runs a mail business firm in the
south of England.

As well as the traditional herbal mixes, both companies sell products
like Salvia, a relative of sage, which provides a short, sharp "hit"
of only a few minutes; and Kratom, a leaf from south-east Asia used as
an opium substitute.

More esoteric substances are Hawaiian Baby Woodrose Seeds, said to be
more powerful than LSD. And there's the powdered Banisteriopsis caapi
vine, the main ingredient in Ayahuasca or Yage. It's a sacred and
ancient South American medicine said to have visionary qualities and
"bought directly from Natives in the Amazon jungle under fair trade
policies." It costs about $20 for 50 grams.

Bovey said consumers are broadly divided into two groups - older
"hippie" types, used to smoking cannabis who were comfortable with
smoking or ingesting exotic plants; and younger buyers seeking to
replicate the "E" experience.

He said there were some things he would never sell, such as Datura, or
Thorn-Apple, both a poison and hallucinogenic, linked with several
deaths in the United States, where it is a common plant.

Despite all the exotic experiences attributed to the various
substances, instances of addiction, abuse or harmful affects are
almost non-existent.

Britain's Home Office said yesterday that there was no present reason
for the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to examine the legal
status of any of the substances on the market.

Nevertheless, DrugScope issued advice to students in London earlier
this year cautioning that any drug that has a psychological effect can
prove difficult to stop if used regularly.

It added: "In general, very little is known about these substances.
Proper controlled research is sparse, and therefore side effects and
possible dangers when taken with other drugs, and even foods, is not
known."

Harry Shapiro, a spokesman for DrugScope, added: "The only real
warning we would give is the same as that we offer to consumers of
illegal drugs ... that people with mental health problems should not
take them. That if you are anxious, worried or depressed, they may
only make your condition worse, and that if you are going to
experiment, do so in a safe and secure environment."