New types of party pills expected to flood the market from tomorrow, when pills containing the active ingredient benzylpiperazine (BZP) become illegal, should be tested before they are released for public consumption, the New Zealand Drug Foundation says.
From midnight, BZP-based pills will be outlawed following an amendment
to the Misuse of Drugs Act reclassifying them and related substances as class C drugs - the same as cannabis.
There will be an amnesty on personal use for six months, but it will be illegal for anyone to be in possession of more than 100 pills, or five grams of BZP.
Retailers, currently selling off their stocks of BZP-based products at discount prices, are expected to move to other non-BZP products.
New BZP-free products are already being advertised online by some retailers.
The drug foundation has called for a voluntary moratorium on sales of all new non-BZP party pills until an independent analysis has been carried out to determine their risk.
It warns there is no information about what is in the new products or their health effects, and that consumers' health could be severely compromised.
Foundation executive director Ross Bell said the market was in the same "risky situation" that existed when BZP pills were first introduced.
"We don't know what's in them, we don't know their effects and so we aren't able to provide good health and safety advice to consumers. We cannot rely on the industry to provide unbiased information," said Mr Bell.
"These new products have zero regulations over them.
"This means they can be sold from anywhere, including the corner dairy, to anyone, including people under 18-years-old.
"There is no requirement for the products to have health and safety labelling, so consumers won't have a clue what's in them or their possible health effects. Once more, the law is lagging behind what is happening in the marketplace."
The drug foundation will ask the government's independent expert advisory committee on drugs to review the new products and provide advice on how they should be regulated.
"While we're in this state of regulatory limbo, we urge retailers to show some responsibility and postpone sales of the new pills until an independent review is complete and made available to the public."
- NZPA
