Rushed bill to tighten rules on party pills

The sale of party pills to people under 18 will be banned and other tight restrictions placed on the sale of "legal highs" under a bill being fast-tracked though Parliament.

After growing controversy over the safety of the unregulated party pill industry, the health select committee has recommended the pills be classified in a new category of restricted substances under the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill.

Substances such as benzylpiperazine will be listed in a new schedule.

They will be subject to restrictions and requirements relating to advertising, distribution, manufacturing, sale and supply.

The Government is confident the bill will be passed before this year's election.

Drug Foundation executive director Ross Bell said the proposed changes could not have come at a better time.

On Saturday, an 18-year-old woman having seizures and trouble breathing was admitted to Christchurch Hospital's intensive care unit after swallowing 10 pills containing BZP. She was the third case at the hospital in a month.

Mr Bell said the latest case showed a need for consumer protection and industry regulation.

"Had the regulations been in effect earlier, we might not have seen shops selling bulk amounts of party pills at cut-price rates, and the consumer would have been well aware of the risks of taking such an amount all at once."

The party pill industry is estimated to be worth $24 million a year.

Industry lobby group Social Tonics Association of New Zealand, which has a voluntary code for retailers, welcomes the changes but is wary about the impact on business.

"There is a thin line between ensuring safe operation of a market people want and enjoy, and restrictions that drive it underground," spokesman Matt Bowden said.

Nicky Shannon, saleswoman at the Karangahape Rd store exonrave.com, which stocks party pills, said the store had always advocated safety. But restrictions on how it advertised and how much stock it held "wouldn't be the best thing".

She had used party pills and believed they were not dangerous if used properly.

"We don't sell to people under 18 and we would refrain from selling to intoxicated people."

Ms Shannon said the number of pills in a single packet should not be an issue as long as customers knew not to take 10 pills at once.

But K'Road Liquor Centre manager Mony Grewal said it was dangerous to sell pills in bulk.

"The trend is to sell more and more in each pack, then you get customers taking eight at once, and that's dangerous."

He said advertising should not be restricted as long as an R18 age restriction was introduced and clearly displayed.

"They shouldn't be available in places where young teenagers can enter, such as dairies or food courts."

Not all political parties are happy with the committee's recommendations. Most controversy centres on a last-minute addition to the bill from the United Future Party which will lock in the present legal status of cannabis and other drugs.

United Future was concerned that cannabis could be downgraded to a restricted substance - and therefore decriminalised - by a procedure known as an order-in-council, which the party likened to a "ministerial sign-off".

It threatened to withdraw its confidence and money-supply support, which would jeopardise the Government's stability, unless a clause was included that allows a drug's class to be downgraded only by Parliament.

Green MP Nandor Tanczos said it was a highly irregular move and an abuse of parliamentary process.

The bill also lowers to 5g the quantity of methamphetamine that qualifies as being for supply, creates new offences of importing and exporting precursor substances and creates powers of search and seizure without warrant for precursor substances.

The Greens and Act described the search and seizure provisions as draconian.

- additional reporting: Derek Cheng

Party pills

* Cheap, legal stimulants containing low-risk substances such as benzylpiperazine (BZP) which energise users and give a sense of euphoria.
* Users often mix different pills and take extra doses because effects can be slow-acting.
* Costs range from $25 for a three-pack up to $30 for one.
* Doctors say some users, especially young women, risk bad reactions because of their lower body mass.