31 March 2008 Media Statement

BZP-based party pills banned from tomorrow

Retailers of BZP-based party pills and other pills containing piperazines and their analogues will be prosecuted if they continue to sell them from tomorrow, Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton said.

He also warned consumers planning to stockpile any remaining piperazine-based party pills that having more than 100 pills or five grams would be deemed a commercial supply and they risked prosecution too.

"It is not just BZP (benzylpiperazine) that has been classified as a Class C drug - its analogues have been banned too: TFMPP (trifluromethylphenylpiperazine), pFPP (flurophenylpiperazine), MeOPP (methoxyphenylpiperazine), mCPP (metachlorophenylpiperazine), MBZP (methylbenzlpiperazine), and also the isomers, esters, ethers, and salts of these substances."

Jim Anderton said it was a regrettable flaw in our current legal system that suppliers can sell any sort of pill to consumers without having to first prove their safety.

He said this caused terrible risk, as unregulated drugs are on the street for the period of time till the Government can prove that they are dangerous and ban them.

"I urge all potential consumers of party pills not to put themselves at risk by taking pills that could contain anything."

Jim Anderton said the Law Commission was doing a review of the Misuse of Drugs Act, which would look at that burden of proof issue.

ENDS

© Scoop Media