scholarly journals Poison in party pills is too much to swallow

Nature ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 474 (7351) ◽  
pp. 253-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Cole
Keyword(s):  
Party Pills

Update on 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP) party pills

2013 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 929-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Márcia Sá Monteiro ◽  
Maria de Lourdes Bastos ◽  
Paula Guedes de Pinho ◽  
Márcia Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Party Pills

scholarly journals Recreational Drug Using Behaviour and Legal Benzylpiperazine Party Pills

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Katherine Anne Bryson Hammond
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Potential Outcomes ◽  
Recreational Drug ◽  
Illicit Substance ◽  
Illicit Substance Use ◽  
Related Harm ◽  
Party Pills ◽  
Illicit Substances

<p>Benzylpiperazine (BZP) is a stimulant drug that produces effects similar to amphetamines (Campbell, Cline, Evans, Lloyd, & Peck, 1973). It has been sold legally in New Zealand in the form of 'party pills' since 2000. The legal status of BZP party pills has been debated in New Zealand as the media reported cases of apparent overdoses and adverse reactions leading to hospitalization (Brogden, 2005; Crewdson, 2007; Reiber, 2005; Rankin, 2006). Representatives of the BZP party pill industry publicly defended their product claiming that BZP party pills were reducing substance related harm by reducing illicit substance use (Bowden, 2007b, p.1). They also claimed that banning BZP would result in an increase in use of illicit substances, especially methamphetamine or 'P' (Barnett, 2007). The overall aim of this thesis is to test the claims that BZP party pills reduce substance related harm by reducing illicit substance use, and to identify potential outcomes of a BZP party pill ban. In addition, the perceived risks of party pill and other drug use will be examined. In chapter one I review key concepts relating to BZP party pill use: recreational drug use, harm reduction, and risk perception. In chapter two the history and New Zealand context of BZP party pills are reviewed. In chapter three, study one qualitatively analyzes BZP party pill marketing material in an attempt to describe the culture and discourse promoted by the BZP party pill industry. This analysis demonstrated that BZP party pills were primarily marketed as part of a recreational drug using culture. In chapter four, study two quantitatively investigated whether BZP party pill use was associated with reduced levels of illicit substance use in a sample (N=796) of first year university students. This study also examined the relationship between risk perception and frequency of substance use. Study two demonstrated that BZP party pill users are generally recreational poly-drug users who used illicit substances equally as often as illicit users who did not use BZP party pills. BZP party pills did not appear to reduce illicit substance use, and therefore harm. For the majority of substances there was no significant relationship between risk and use behaviour. The legal status of substances appeared to be important when participants rated the risks of use. Legal substances (including BZP) tended to be rated as safer than illegal substances. In chapter five, study three qualitatively analyzed 60 interviews with regular BZP party pill users to identify potential outcomes of a BZP party pill ban. A combination of alternatives were likely to be used by BZP party pill users, primarily illicit substances, especially ecstasy, as well as alcohol, and black market BZP. However methamphetamine (P) was an unpopular alternative. Study three also analyzed how BZP party pill users assess the costs and benefits of BZP party pill use. Decisions to use BZP party pills relied heavily on the benefits of use, rather than the costs. In chapter six, the general discussion describes the implications, ethical considerations, limitations, and outcomes of the research.</p>

scholarly journals Ethics: Making people be healthy

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 244
Author(s):  
Timothy Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Libertarian Paternalism ◽  
The Political ◽  
Junk Food ◽  
State Health ◽  
Political Ethics ◽  
Party Pills ◽  
Nanny State

How are we supposed to decide the rights and wrongs of banning smoking in bars, restricting adverts for junk food, nagging people into being screened for cancers, or banning the sale of party pills? The aim of this paper is to think through the political ethics of trying to make people healthier through influencing or restricting their choices. This paper covers: (1) Paternalism. What it is, what it assumes. (2) The place of health in well-being, and how this makes paternalism problematic. (3) The mistakes people make in acting in their own interests, and the implications for pro-health paternalism. (4) Autonomy objections to paternalism. The paper (5) finishes on a note of hope, by commending the currently fashionable libertarian paternalism: trying to have one’s carrot cake and eat it too. A persistent theme is that thinking sensibly about making people healthier needs subtlety, not broad, ringing declarations. KEYWORDS: Paternalism; nanny state; health; autonomy; rational choice

Investigation of the effects of ‘piperazine-containing party pills’ and dexamphetamine on interhemispheric communication using electroencephalography

2016 ◽  
Vol 233 (15-16) ◽  
pp. 2869-2877 ◽  
Author(s):  
HeeSeung Lee ◽  
Grace Y. Wang ◽  
Louise E. Curley ◽  
Rob R. Kydd ◽  
Ian J. Kirk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interhemispheric Communication ◽  
Party Pills

scholarly journals Impure but not inactive: Behavioral pharmacology of dibenzylpiperazine, a common by-product of benzylpiperazine synthesis

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 802-810
Author(s):  
Sean B Dolan ◽  
Ritu A Shetty ◽  
Michael J Forster ◽  
Michael B Gatch
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Active Compound ◽  
Abuse Liability ◽  
Place Preference ◽  
Behavioral Pharmacology ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Psychoactive Substance ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Dose Dependent ◽  
Party Pills

Background: Substituted piperazines comprise a substantial proportion of the novel psychoactive substance market. Among the most widely abused piperazine compounds are meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), tri-fluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP), and, especially, benzylpiperazine (BZP), which are commonly incorporated, either alone or in combination, in illicit “party pills” or “ecstasy” formulations. Illicit synthesis of BZP often results in production of an impure by-product dibenzylpiperazine (DBZP), which frequently appears alongside BZP in these formulations; however, despite its ubiquity, little information exists regarding the abuse liability of DBZP. Aims: The current study aimed to evaluate the abuse-related behavioral pharmacology of DBZP. Methods: DBZP, mCPP, and TFMPP were tested in parallel in mice in locomotor activity and conditioned place preference assays, and in a drug discrimination assay with rats trained to discriminate either methamphetamine, cocaine, (±)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), or -2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine(DOM). Results: Each of the compounds tested produced dose-dependent decreases in locomotor activity. DBZP substituted fully for methamphetamine, produced subthreshold drug-appropriate responding for cocaine and MDMA, and failed to substitute for DOM. Conversely, TFMPP and mCPP only produced subthreshold drug-appropriate responding for methamphetamine and MDMA, respectively, and both compounds failed to substitute for cocaine or DOM. None of the compounds tested produced a place preference. DBZP produced convulsions in rats at the highest dose tested. Conclusions: These data indicate that DBZP is more similar to BZP, albeit with lower potency and efficacy, than its serotonergic piperazine counterparts, and is a behaviorally-active compound with some abuse liability and potential for adverse health effects.

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