ReviewBZP-party pills: A review of research on benzylpiperazine as a recreational drug
Introduction
As part of the recent growth in ‘legal highs’, benzylpiperazine (BZP) was first used as a recreational substance in Europe in 1999 (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2009, Wikstrom et al., 2004); markets have since developed in a number of countries including Bulgaria, the US, Australia, Sweden, Japan and South Africa. Between 2000 and 2008, however, New Zealand was the only country to develop a significant legal market for what has become known as ‘BZP-party pills’ (Bellamy, 2007, Social Tonics Association of New Zealand, 2005, Wilkins and Sweetsur, 2010). During this period, the country also produced a number of pieces of research on the drug which, together, make up a body of knowledge unmatched elsewhere in the world. This was recently acknowledged in a risk assessment on BZP carried out by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) (2009, p. 39) which stated, ‘without doubt, BZP has been most prevalent in New Zealand … It is for this reason that much of the epidemiological and pharmacotoxicological data on BZP originate in that country’. A summation of the research from New Zealand as well as from other countries is outlined in this article. The legal trade in BZP-party pills was halted in New Zealand in 2008 following the introduction of new government legislation, re-classifying this group of drugs as Class C1 and, consequently, making it illegal to manufacture, import, export, supply, sell or consume BZP-party pills and related substances. By this point the BZP-party pill industry in New Zealand was worth an estimated NZ$50 million (approximately 22 million GBP) per year (Vince, 2006).
Section snippets
Method
Our goals for performing a literature search on BZP-party pills were twofold. Firstly, there was a need to review and catalogue the studies previously undertaken on the psychoactive properties of the drug (that is, studies that profiled the drug's effect on humans rather than articles related to BZP's pharmacological and technical qualities alone). Secondly, there was a need to retrieve scientific and grey literature which offered secondary analysis and further commentary of the available
The substance
It has been mistakenly reported in the scientific literature and popular media that BZP was previously investigated as a potential antihelmic (Campbell et al., 1973, Russell, 2006, Vince, 2006). It is likely that the confusion arises due to the product's similarity to ‘piperazine’, which is used as a worming agent (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2008). Another notable erroneous association with BZP is its ‘herbal’ origins or ‘natural’ composition, despite the substance
Discussion
It may well be the case that, without its legal status, BZP-party pills loses its main advantage in the party drugs market as young people turn instead to other designer drugs such as MDMA/Ecstasy. Certainly there is evidence from New Zealand that the use of MDMA/Ecstasy has continued to grow over the last 10 years or so, though the impact of the criminalisation of BZP-party pills on this trend is as yet unclear (Wilkins, Griffiths, & Sweetsur, 2010). There is also a concern from such users
Conclusion
In undertaking this literature review, it is apparent that much of the published research on BZP-party pills has been undertaken in New Zealand (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2009). This is not surprising given the size of the legal market which developed in this county prior to the substance being banned (Wilkins & Sweetsur, 2010). However, evidence of increasing international interest in the substance is noticeable in the body of literature emerging from other
Funding
Funding for a Research Assistant (RB) to complete the initial literature review for this article was provided by the University of Auckland's Faculty of Arts ‘Faculty Research Development Fund’, General Programme No. 3622727. The Faculty of Arts had no further role in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of this research; they were also not involved in the decision to submit this paper for publication.
Conflict of interest
Bruce Cohen has no conflict of interest to declare. Rachael Butler has previously worked as a Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy on the New Zealand government-funded project, Legal party pills and their use by young people in New Zealand. She has worked on a number of resulting publications which are referred to in this article.
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