Fears that Party Pills are being INJECTED (BZP - NZ)

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Fears party pills being injected

By DANIEL NIELSEN and Fairfax - The Nelson Mail
Tuesday, 26 December 2006

Nelson drug addiction services are worried that people are starting to inject party pills intravenously as tolerance increases with frequent and widespread use of them.

Nelson Marlborough District Health Board addiction services regional manager Eileen Varley said she wasn't sure how many people were taking the pills this way but she knew it was happening.

No research had been done into the effects of injecting party pills, but "you are taking a significant risk doing it", Ms Varley said. She said people should try looking for natural highs instead.

Nelson Injecting Community Health Enterprise manager Victoria Kewley said she would advise people not to inject BZP - benzylpiperazine, the active ingredient in party pills. If people were going to do it, they should use safe injecting equipment such as clean needles and syringes, sterile water, filters, swabs for cleaning the site and not share utensils.

Fears that New Zealand is becoming a haven for mind-altering drugs has prompted experts to recommend laws banning party pills. Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton last week took the first steps toward making BZP and other common ingredients in party pills illegal, following a recommendation from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs.

The committee has recommended the substances be classified C1 - the same as cannabis - under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The committee's report said a key issue was whether New Zealand wanted to be a legal market for "psychoactive drugs".

BZP has been banned in Australia and the United States. The report said New Zealand was increasingly viewed as a primary BZP supplier, "which has the potential to impact on New Zealand's international reputation".
Committee chairman Ashley Bloomfield said recent incidents of New Zealand manufacturers having shipments turned away by Australian customs officials had added to concern.

But there was also a significant body of research showing that BZP caused worrying effects in many users, he said. Medical Research Institute of NZ director professor Richard Beasley said his institute's party pill study was halted halfway through because the "frequency, nature and severity of the adverse events were of sufficient concern" to researchers.

Chairman Matt Bowden said about 10 million party pills had been sold in New Zealand during the past six years. "While there have been some headaches, there has not been a single case of anybody suffering lasting negative effects from them and the evidence is clear that they are keeping people away from P."

A ban would all but wipe out the \$20 million industry, which includes about 600 outlets, employing many students.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/nelsonm...0940a6510.html