Pubdate: Sun, 17 Apr 2005
Source: Sunday Star-Times (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2005 Sunday Star-Times
Contact:  http://www.sundaystartimes.co.nz
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1064
Author: Dave Courtney and Irene Chapple

SHOPS TRUMPET R18 PARTY PILL BAN - THEN IGNORE IT

Party pills, energy pills and recently banned nitrous oxide are readily 
available to under-18s from shops claiming they do not sell the 
controversial stimulants to teenagers.

Manufacturers and retailers of party pills have trumpeted the self-imposed 
R18 ban in response to concerns over spiralling demand for, and the ease of 
access to, legal highs.

Last week the Sunday Star-Times had a 14-year-old visit six Christchurch 
shops and another visit four Auckland shops. The shops sold party pills 
despite advertising an R18 ban.

Seven shops sold to our customers.

Three sold pills containing benzylpiperazine (BZP), three sold a 
kava/caffeine energy pill and one sold nitrous oxide (nos) the day after it 
was banned for sale as an inhalant.

At some shops the teenagers told assistants they had never used party pills 
before and asked for a recommendation, or requested a particular brand.

WellTrust executive director Pauline Gardiner said the sales were proof the 
industry was more interested in profits than social responsibility.

"It (the party pill industry) needs a gold medal for marketing. First it 
called them herbal when there is nothing herbal about them and now it calls 
them social tonics," she said.

"It's all rubbish. It is there to make money and it doesn't give a 
tuppenny's who it sells them to."

Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said he was wary of the 
self-regulation promises.

"Like the cigarette industry which has known cigarette smoking is 
dangerous, they still seek to promote and sell them (pills)," he said.

"These people who say they are going to self-regulate have to show they are 
responsible, and they haven't."

Anderton said a select committee was due to report on the issue next month. 
Party pills containing BZP were created as an alternative to illicit drugs 
such as ecstasy and methamphetamine.

Since being manufactured and marketed, the pills have grown into a 
multi-million-dollar industry, with more than 5 million sold in New Zealand 
the past five years.

The Social Tonics Association of New Zealand (Stanz), a body for the 
majority of party pill manufacturers, implemented its code of practice last 
year, calling it "socially responsible risk management".

Stanz has lobbied the government for an over-18 only curb on party pills. 
Currently it is legal to sell them to all ages. Stanz says the pills keep 
people away from harder drugs.

Last year the government advisory committee on drugs decided BZP should not 
be classified under the Misuse of Drugs Act. But the committee recommended 
pills with BZP be restricted to over-18s and further research be done into 
effects of the drug. Among the shops that sold to the under-18s were Herbal 
Heaven in Christchurch, which sold BZP pills in a packet marked R18. A 
second Herbal Heaven branch in the city sold nos to our customer.

A staff member at the shop said it was policy to check identification. She 
could not explain why the pills were sold to the 14-year-old. The owners of 
The Lab, and Herbal Heaven did not return calls, and Weirdos Funk Store 
could not be contacted.

The boy's father said his concern was if teenagers could get access to the 
pills so easily, where would they turn to next.

An Auckland 14-year-old was twice sold pills with BZP in them at the 
Ponsonby Superette and the Exclusive Adult Shop on K Rd.

Exclusive Adult Shop co-owner John Frew said he was disappointed. "We have 
a policy not to sell to under-18s . . . We will be contacting that staff 
member and having a real piece of them, and re-emphasising our policy."

Frew believed it was extremely important not to sell to under-18s and that 
buyers should receive information about the pills' contents.

The three shops that did not sell without identification were 
Christchurch's Cosmic Corner and Auckland's Midday Counter Superette and 
the Walia Superette.
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman