Pubdate: Tue, 28 Dec 2004
Source: Press, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2004 The Christchurch Press Company Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.press.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/349
Author: Louise Bleakley

PARTY PILL LABELLING FRUSTRATES

Health officials say they are powerless to force retailers to label
the ingredients in herbal party pills because they fall through a
classification crack.

The party pills, which contain benzylpiperazine, are neither
classified as a drug nor as a dietary supplement so there is no
requirement for them to be labelled.

"We can only do something about these drugs when they become
recognised as such," Canterbury's medical officer of health, Dr
Alistair Humphrey, said.

A select committee is considering a proposal by Associate Health
Minister Jim Anderton to add a new classification for a D controlled
drug which would include party pills.

"We need a new classification for drugs that may require age and sale
restrictions. Nothing can be done in the meantime. We don't have the
legislative framework to deal with it," Anderton said.

Christchurch Hospital's emergency department started recording
information about party pill admissions last Thursday as part of a
nationwide effort to learn more about the drugs.

The initiative, co-ordinated by Dr John Fountain at Otago University's
National Poisons Centre and supported in Christchurch through the
Emergency Care Foundation, will contribute to research that will
enable drug enforcement agencies to set rules around the labelling and
use of party pills.

Fountain, a medical toxicologist, said informed labelling would be a
step in the right direction, though verifying that the label
corresponded with the ingredients would be difficult.

"You can put something on the label but you still don't know what's in
the bottle," he said.

"The difficulty about these sorts of compounds is that there is no
study on the adverse effects. The dangers inherent in this are not
being communicated to users."

Christchurch Hospital emergency department consultant specialist
Martin Than said the number of admissions for party pill abuse at the
department had been sporadic, peaking at about six in a weekend.

People were less cautious because of the commonly used "herbal" label,
when in fact, herbal party pills were synthetic compounds.

Than said more research into the effects of pills was required. "I've
got nothing against people taking them but we lack essential
information about them. We have no idea what the effect of them is on
people who drive. They should be subject to the same stringent tests
(as pharmaceuticals)."

Humphrey said the answer was getting the pills classed as drugs rather
than dietary supplements.

FACT BOX

The active drug in the pills, commonly known as herbal ecstasy or
herbal speed, is benzylpiperazine.

It typically causes euphoria, but can result in agitation, vomiting,
abdominal pain, seizures and abnormal heart rhythms.

In rare cases, users may suffer from serotonin syndrome, which can
cause death.

The street names it is sold under include A2, Blizzard, Herbal E,
Purple Pills, White Butterfly, C4, Herbal Ecstasy, Jump, Triple Crown,
Zoom, Euphoria, Green Fly, Herbal Speed, Purple Frenzy, Shotgun,
Viper, Jax, Sweet Tarts and Wannabe.
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MAP posted-by: Derek