KEY POINTS:
A Government-funded study into the effects of BZP had to be aborted because of the toll it was taking on participants in the trial.
The subsequent report, leaked to the Herald on Sunday, says BZP - the main ingredient in party pills - has severe negative effects, especially if it's taken with alcohol. After consulting the National Ethics Committee, scientists ended the trial because participants began to suffer nausea, dizziness and hallucinations.
The confidential report, commissioned by the Ministry of Health and due to be released publicly within a few months, explains the dangers of the legal highs which have been sold, with few restrictions, in shops around New Zealand for seven years.
In the draft report the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand says that "the consumption of party pills containing BZP either alone or in combination with alcohol in the recommended doses carries the risk of severe adverse effects". Party pills affect sleep and cardiovascular function in a similar way to methamphetamine, or P, the report claims. One of the authors, Professor Richard Beasley, suggests the report has "personal, community, public health and regulatory implications".
The 34-page study says that 43 per cent of the 35 people who participated - mainly males - suffered "severe adverse events" after being given a mixture of alcohol and BZP. More than 80 per cent reported suffering a dry mouth, nose and throat when using BZP. About 35 per cent said that they vomited, experienced vision problems, felt dizzy, had difficulty passing urine, were confused and became agitated. Thirty-two per cent said their libido took a knock.
However, the report also concludes that driver performance improves among those high on the drug.
A party pill industry representative says the report reeks of bad science and he is concerned the Government will use it to decide if the $30 million industry should be closed.
Matt Bowden, chairman of Social Tonics Association of New Zealand - representing 70 per cent of Kiwi party pill companies - says the BZP doses given in the study were higher than those users normally consumed. "When thousands of people are taking these pills, we never see 43 per cent of them suffering adverse effects."
Party pills have become one of the most popular recreational drugs in New Zealand, with retailers claiming to have sold 26 million. There have been no confirmed deaths linked directly with BZP products, banned in Australia, Denmark and the US.
Bowden says he is concerned the report has not been made public because the authors are waiting for it to be published in a medical journal. "How can the Government consider something that hasn't even been reviewed by the medical profession?"
The minister responsible for drug policy, Jim Anderton, says he is confident the research - one of four studies - is a fair reflection of the situation, and says it is not a problem that only two brands of BZP, Jet and Bliss, were used for the study. "It is not as though you have to have evidence that every single packet of something is dangerous." He concedes that the findings differ from other local research, such as a University of Auckland study which did not recommend stricter regulations.
A recommendation on the fate of party pills will be made to Cabinet in May, after a consultation process. Health Ministry officials are preparing a requested copy of the report for the United Nations. Almost half the Government's 2006 drug advisory committee research budget was spent on BZP.
A Canterbury man told police his sexual urges - which he blamed on party pills - led him to sexually attack another man in December. Johnathan Smallbon, 30, pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court to kidnapping for sex, threatening to kill, assaulting while armed with a knife, and two counts of sexually violating his victim.
