Law gets tough on selling party pills

The law covering the sale of "herbal party pills" and possession of methamphetamine has been toughened.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act, which MPs passed yesterday, the sale of pills containing benzylpiperazine (BZP) will be restricted to buyers over 18 years old.

BZP contains properties resembling amphetamines and Ecstasy.

The law also:

* Lowers from 56g to 5g the amount of methamphetamine someone must hold before it is presumed to be for dealing.

* Creates new offences relating to the importing and exporting of substances used to make methamphetamine, such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.

* Allows authorities to search and seize those substances without a warrant.

* Shifts the onus of proof for possessing a needle or syringe to the prosecution rather than defendant.

Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said the law would get "tough on the peddlers of the very dangerous drugs, like the manufacturers and importers of methamphetamine and its precursors".

The only party to oppose it was Act, which said it did so on the grounds it had been rushed through the parliamentary process.

Under the law, restricted substances such as BZP are to be listed in a new schedule. Those substances could be subject to restrictions relating to advertising, distribution, manufacturing, sale and supply.

These can also be amended at a later date.

The select committee considering the bill recommended the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs continue to monitor research on the level of harm associated with BZP and assess the risk it poses.

Customs Minister Rick Barker said the new law conferred much needed powers to track and prosecute the importers of methamphetamine precursor drugs.

Since authorities had stepped up controls on the sale of cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine, criminals had turned increasingly to importing them.

Seizures had skyrocketed from 10,300 tablets in 2000 to 1.8 million last year.

"Importers of precursors now utilise false names and addresses, safe houses, or unwitting recipients for the importation of precursors.

"These techniques are identical to those used by persons or groups importing illicit drugs and need to be considered an offence," Mr Barker said.

The law would also allow customs officers to make "controlled deliveries" of the precursors, allowing them to be tracked to the actual importer.

United Future MP Judy Turner welcomed the law's regulation of party pills.

"We want to see the Government continue to both gather data on the use of these substances and to draft a separate act of Parliament to cover substances that are legal but regulated."

Green MP Nandor Tanczos said the party was pleased the law introduced a "fourth rung" to restrict rather than ban some new drugs.

- NZPA