PUT AGE LIMIT ON PEPPER PILLS SAYS TANCZOS

Party drugs derived from pepper plants should have an age limit but
need not be outlawed, Green MP Nandor Tanczos says.

The Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs, an independent body of police,
health, customs and drugs experts, is meeting today to discuss making
herbal drugs illegal.

The pepper plant-derived drugs contain benzylpiperazine (BZP) and
trifluromethylphenlypiperazine (TFMPP) and are marketed under the
names names Charge, Rapture, Blast and Exodus.

Mr Tanczos said there were no grounds to make the drugs illegal, but
the Misuse of Drugs Act should be changed so the drugs were restricted
but not criminalised.

The drugs did not cause harm but should not be sold to
children.

He said drugs could be banned only if proved to be
harmful.

But the advisory committee could not recommend lesser restrictions,
"such as on age and where you can buy them. That's why the law needs
to change."

Side effects of the pills, which are described as the legal
alternative to Ecstasy or P, include heart palpitations and increased
blood pressure and body temperature.

At high doses, the piperazines produce hallucinations, convulsions and
respiratory depression.

Possession of the chemicals is illegal in the United States and some
parts of Australia but there are no restrictions in New Zealand.