Push to ban party pill after health scares

IRELAND will have to ban a party drug legally on sale here following an EU decision yesterday.

The stimulant drug BZP is contained in a range of so-called “legal highs”, sold as alternatives to illegal drugs such as ecstasy.

Popular brands of BZP, or benzylpiperazine, sold in “head stores” include Smileys, Jax and Pep pills.

Ireland has come under pressured to restrict the sale of BZP after a number of health scares.

Last July, the Irish Examiner reported a woman in her 20s had to be brought to hospital after taking the pills. Her father protested at the open sale of the tablets and called on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to act.

Eight EU member states have placed controls on BZP and another two have placed it under medical control.

All remaining states, including Ireland, will have to bring in controls on the drug within a year.

The decision was made by the EU Council of Ministers yesterday after considering a risk-assessment of BZP by the scientific committee of the EU Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Administration.

A council statement said: “Due to its stimulant properties, risk to health, the lack of medical benefits and following the precautionary principle, there is a need to control BZP.” This would include control measures proportionate to the risk of the substance, which it said was “relatively low” and criminal penalties in line with national laws.

A spokeswoman for the EMCDDA said BZP was a psychoactive drug belonging to the group of piperazine derivatives. She said like amphetamine and methamphetamine, BZP stimulated the central nervous system and was reported by users to provoke similar effects to these substances.

“Health risks or adverse reactions reported by BZP users include: vomiting, headaches, stomach pains or nausea, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings and confusion.”

She said BZP was first notified to the EMCDDA and Europol via their early-warning system on new drugs in 1999, but there was an increase in the number of notifications of BZP to the agencies at the end of 2006.

“Over the past two years, BZP-containing products have been aggressively marketed by various retailers and websites as ‘natural’ or ‘herbal’ highs and as a legal alternative to ecstasy (including ‘Legal E’, ‘Legal X’), misleading potential users tobelieve the drug is safe.”

Products containing BZP have been sold under brand names including: Pep pills; Funk pills (Flying Angel, Twisted) and JAX.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said yesterday: “Following today’s decision of the Council of Ministers to place BZP under control in accordance with the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, Member States must act as soon as possible... to introduce control measures and criminal sanctions.

“For Ireland, the introduction of national measures will involve declaring BZP to be a controlled substance under Irish Misuse of Drugs legislation and adding it to the schedule of controlled substances in accordance with that legislation,” she said.