FEARS OVER BAN ON BZP

Legislation that will turn party-pill users and dealers into
criminals has been welcomed by health officials, but one Nelson
supplier warned the move could force the drugs underground.

Under tough new legislation being drawn up by the Government and
likely to be enacted by the end of the year, BZP - benzylpiperazine -
and related party pills will be banned and classified as a class C1
drug, the same as cannabis.

The new law allows a six-month amnesty for personal use from the time
it comes into force, but suppliers, manufacturers and exporters of
the pills have until the law passes to quit the trade or face
penalties of up to eight years in jail.

Users caught with the drug will face up to three months' jail or a $500 fine.

Rules are also being drawn up forcing party-pill makers to prove
their products are not harmful, to stop them rolling out new
psychoactive substances to replace BZP.

Party-pill manufacturers and retailers, who are part of a $35 million
industry, have joined with the New Zealand Drug Foundation to condemn
the reclassification, saying it will drive users to harder drugs and
could spark a crime wave.

Tim Kelly, the owner of Nelson party-pill supply shop Gizmos, said he
was surprised by the announcement, which he believed would push the
drug underground.

"I would stop selling as a retailer, but it doesn't mean other people
would stop," Mr Kelly said.

Invisible Music Culture Emporium owner Ben Bowden said he was already
resigned to the fact that the pills would be outlawed but suspected
people would be able to come up with new pills that circumvented the law.

He said his Takaka-based store which makes, exports and sells party
pills, would feel the pinch of the law change, but would survive on
other products it sells.

Nelson Marlborough District Health Board addiction services regional
manager Eileen Varley said she applauded the move because it put out
a more consistent message on harmful drugs, although alcohol was
still the worst.

"Will this drive it underground?

"I suspect it will and people will be more devious about how they sell them."

It could also push people into harder illegal drugs, she said.

Nelson GP Dave Dixon said: "If there's safety concerns then I would
think it's quite appropriate for legislation that tightens it up."

Nelson police area commander Inspector Brian McGurk said the bill was
not far enough along in the legislative process for him to comment
but he would support "some sort of control" over party pills.

Massey University Centre for Social and Health Outcomes researcher
Chris Wilkins, who did a major study on the effects of the drug, said
the move was a "tough call" but probably the right decision.

"There has been no research on the long-term effects of BZP or the
role BZP may play in psychological illness.

"Consequently, there was a strong case for stricter regulation of the
use and sale of party pills and on balance a ban appears to be the
low-risk decision.

"It will be interesting to see if a black market develops and the
extent to which the authorities can control any criminal trade that develops."

Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton, in charge of the National
Drug Strategy, said doing nothing about party pills was not an option.

"Once you are told by clinical experts that what is being sold
virtually at the corner dairy could kill people and you know that,
how do you unknow it?

"If you don't take action, and a 14-year-old or a 16-year-old or an
18-year-old dies in hospital from taking BZP, what do you think the
headlines will be about government inaction?"

While other MPs worried about party pills being driven underground,
the Greens were the only political party to speak out against the
move, saying experience showed complete prohibition did nothing to
make drugs safer or lessen overall drug use.

Last year, a national household survey of 2000 people aged 13 to 45
found that one in five had tried party pills.

Nearly half said they used the pills so they would not have to use an
illegal drug.

The survey also found that one in 100 users had visited a hospital
emergency department in the previous year because of their party pill.

The family of a man who spent three weeks in a coma after taking
party pills hailed the Government's decision.

Greymouth DJ Ben Rodden spent three weeks in a coma in Christchurch
Hospital's intensive care unit in February after taking a party pill
named Torque. Tests found BZP, caffeine and ecstasy in his system.

His mother Wendy said yesterday she was "rapt" BZP would be banned
because her son's experience gave the lie to the idea legal highs were safe.