Party pills

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A selection of products containing BZP.

Party Pills, also known as "Herbal Highs" and "Dance Pills", is a New Zealand colloquialism for a type of recreational drug whose main ingredient, Benzylpiperazine, is banned in most countries, including the USA, but is available on a restricted basis in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

1 Effects
2 Brands and availability
3 News and legality
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Effects

Claimed effects of party pills are increased energy, a general happy feeling, and faster thinking and reaction. Party pills are taken to increase energy, usually at a rave, and to allow the attenders to dance all night. Negative effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, dehydration, and dilated pupils.
Party pills can be hallucinogenic and very dangerous to users. Taking party pills while consuming any form of alcohol is not recommended.

[edit] Brands and availability

Over the past decade, party pills have been sold under a number of brand names, including Charlie(s), the Good Stuff, Exodus, Frenzy, Rapture, Charge, Blast, Euphoria, Silver Bullet, Dark Angel, Sonic, Jump, Assassins, and many others. The packaging normally includes a brief written description. The one for the Evolve brand states that it "creates your own reality, your own heaven. Harmonic supports a long lasting release of the feel-good substances that naturally occur in your brain. So an outside force can alter your mind, but it is your own inner happiness and confidence that will shine through." New improved pills are commonly sold in in age-restricted retail premises such as Adult and Bottle shops.
There are also shops that make as well as market party pills.

[edit] News and legality

Party pills and their legal status are often in the news. Matt Bowden of Stargate International, the original developer of such pills and now an industry spokesperson, is regularly consulted when issues involving party pills arise in the public arena. At one stage Prime television news presenter Alison Mau went so far as to test the effects of certain party pills. A clinical trial by ClubStargate for a pill named Ease was suspended because it contained substances similar to those in the illegal drug called E.

Although sold through several types of retail businesses, New Zealand has classified party pills as a "Restricted Substance" by the Misuse of Drugs Act and restricted to those over 18 years.^[1]. For more on the legal issues posed by party pills, see the Wikipedia article on Benzylpiperazine.

In a New Zealand news article dated 6 November 2006, a road safety advocacy group suggested that people taking party pills are helping reduce the New Zealand's road toll. [1]