Pubdate: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 Source: Dominion Post, The (New Zealand) Copyright: 2005 The Dominion Post Contact: http://www.dompost.co.nz Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2550 Author: Paul Mulrooney Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs) HARD DRUGS NOT A LURE FOR YOUNG NIGHTCLUBBERS - STUDY Young nightclubbers appear to be more at danger from party pills and alcohol than "high end" illegal drugs such as ecstasy. A Victoria University study into Wellington's clubbing scene has found that young clubbers are attracted to the more affordable drugs such as herbal highs, also known as party pills, and the rapidly acting central nervous system depressant known as GHB. "Though the higher-end drugs are certainly destructive, the clubbers highlighted other drugs with which they encountered more frequent risk-taking behaviour," criminology lecturer Fiona Hutton said. She studied 33 clubbers aged between 18 and 25 active in Wellington's youth scene from clubbing, dance parties, social groups and relationships, to determine what risks they took. Wellington club owners and managers were also surveyed. "The public are often led to believe that illegal drugs, such as ecstasy, cause the biggest harm among club-goers. The reality is that, due to the young age of most clubbers, they can't afford those substances on a frequent basis, as a 'pill' can cost between $65 and $80," Dr Hutton said. Instead, clubbers reached for drugs like GHB, chemical name gammahydroxybutyric acid, which was affordable and easy to obtain, but when mixed with alcohol acted like an anaesthetic and put users in vulnerable situations, "especially where safe sex was concerned". Last year, four clubbers aged under 21 had to be put on ventilators in Wellington hospital's intensive care unit after taking GBH, a class B drug also known as Rinse. At the time, a consultant with the hospital's emergency department said the drug caused a deep level of unconsciousness, which led to victims being unable to protect their airways. In the case of herbal highs, there was a perception that, because they were legal they were safe, Dr Hutton said, but this was misleading and dangerous as they contained a high chemical component. Respondents commonly mixed herbals with alcohol and said the combination made them feel like drinking more. Clubbers also tended to mix the two substances when the effects of illegal drugs were wearing off. Every respondent expressed concern about the lack of availability of information about herbals. Dr Hutton, who has written a thesis on social behaviour in the British clubbing scene, said she hoped her research would provide valuable information for Wellington's nightclubs and management. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom