KEY POINTS:
An emergency medicine specialist who has previously spoken out about the dangers of party pills has welcomed today's announcement that the pills will be banned.
Party pills are to be banned, Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton has announced this afternoon.
Dr Paul Gee, an emergency doctor at Christchurch Hospital, said today he fully supported the decision to ban BZP.
"Research into BZP has shown there is a potential for fatalities associated with its use," he said.
"Public safety must always be of prime importance in considering matters related to food and drugs."
Last year Dr Gee called for a ban on the pills, claiming they were responsible for triggering psychological problems among some young people.
Some people suffered serious problems, including metabolic derangements, life-threatening seizures and even psychiatric illnesses.
He said Christchurch Hospital had encountered people under the influence of BZP who had threatened family members with weapons and one person set their own house on fire while barricaded inside.
Dr Gee said research showed the pills were a gateway to harder drugs.
Meanwhile, a doctor who led a major study of party pill use said today's decision was "a tough call" but on balance was probably the right one.
The study led by Dr Chris Wilkins, from Massey's Centre for Social and Health Outcomes (SHORE), was published last year and cited by both proponents and opponents of a ban to back their arguments.
It identified levels and patterns of use and demographics of users, their use of other drugs, and any harm or problems associated with use. It also gauged availability and measured levels of dependency.
A random survey of 2010 people aged 13 to 45 years last year found that one in five had tried legal party pills and two in five (40 per cent) of 18 to 29-year-olds.
Men were more likely to have tried them than women (24 per cent, compared with 17 per cent) and Maori were more likely to have tried them than non-Maori (26 per cent compared with 19 per cent).
Dr Wilkins was surprised at the numbers.
" Our survey indicated that party pills were the fourth most widely used drug in New Zealand after alcohol, tobacco and cannabis. That was unheard of in any other country," he said.
While most users reported fairly minor problems, a small number of users had experienced serious problems and had been admitted to hospital intensive care units with potentially life-threatening conditions.
Mr Anderton also today said moves were under way to make manufacturers of drugs prove they were safe to use before they could be sold.
He also announced a review of the more than 30-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act.
Mr Anderton told reporters today that Cabinet had agreed to his recommendation to prepare legislation to ban BZP and related party pills.
The legislation would "place a ban on the manufacture, supply, sale, export or import of BZP-based products, commonly known as party pills or herbal highs," he said.
The Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs, which was tasked with assessing drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act, had recommended BZP and related substances should be classified as Class C1.
"This means that anyone supplying, manufacturing, exporting or importing these products will be liable to a penalty of a maximum of up to eight years in prison."
Those found in possession of a Class C1 drug were normally liable to a maximum of three months' jail and/or up to a $500 fine.
However, Mr Anderton said there would be an amnesty for possession of up to five grams -- or 100 tablets -- for personal use for a period of six months from the date legislation giving effect to the ban was passed into law.
Mr Anderton said he could have used regulations -- with a 28-day lead-in time -- to put the ban in place but had opted instead to take legislation to Parliament, which would go through the usual select committee process, to ensure the ban would not be held up through judicial review.
The retailing of party pills was a $35 million a year industry, and suppliers and takers of the pills were being put on notice today of the changes.
He said the classification of party pills to Class C1, including the amnesty, would be made in amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act.
He hoped to introduce the legislation soon and wanted it passed into law by Christmas.
Mr Anderton is well known for his opposition to drugs but he said he had made his recommendations to Cabinet on the basis of evidence.
Advice from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD) was that BZP -- even in low doses -- could result in seizures and severe toxicity in some individuals, he said.
"While there has been no evidence of death resulting from BZP on its own, the EACD noted it "could have toxic effects including hyper-tremor, sodium deficiency caused by excessive water intake and BZP-related grand mal seizures and that, while rare, both have the potential to lead to death."
Products containing BZP are said to mimic the effects of amphetamines and ecstasy, with common effects being euphoria, energy, enhanced senses and alertness. Other adverse effects include insomnia, headaches, nausea and anxiety.
Mr Anderton felt that users of party pills would not turn to drugs like ecstasy but that usage would decline once they had been better educated about the "nasty" effects of such drugs.
There was a possibility users would "stockpile" party pills before they were made illegal but he hoped the industry would phase out its operations in the lead-up.
He said Ministry of Health officials were being directed to work with the Law Commission to require manufacturers of these kind of "psychoactive substances" to prove these were safe before they are allowed to go on sale.
Currently, manufacturers could put products for sale and government agencies had to prove these were not safe but the onus of proof was being reversed.
Young people seemed to think that because drugs like party pills were sold legally, they were assumed to be safe.
"In fact, we don't know that they're all right at all."
Mr Anderton said the review of the Misuse of Drugs Act would be done by September 2008.
Both National and United Future said the process to ban BZP had taken too long.
United Future MP Judy Turner said she expected BZP to be driven underground which could see dosage levels raised putting users at greater risk.
She also believed a vacuum would be created by banning BZP which would be filled by another "legal high" with a different chemical composition.
National MP Jacqui Dean welcome the move to ban BZP but said the process had taken "far too long".
Recommendations to ban BZP had been made by the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs last year and Mr Anderton had promised to make his decision by March, and then by May before finally announcing it today, she said.
- NZPA
Read a Parliamentary research paper on legal party pills from April 2007
