Legal dance drug faces ban because of fears about its side-effects

Legal dance drug faces ban amid fears over side-effects - Guardian

Extract:

"A legal dance drug known as legal XTC, Jax, Pep Twisted or Pep Love could be banned across Europe following a report from the EU's drugs monitor calling for tighter controls because of the substance's side-effects.

A joint report from Europol and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) warns that the substance, benzylpiperazine, which is available from websites and "head candy" shops, can cause a series of negative side-effects. Its authors say: "Users have reported a range of adverse reactions such as vomiting, headache, palpitations, poor appetite, stomach pains/nausea, anxiety, insomnia, strange thoughts, mood swings, confusion, irritability and tremors. Some of these occurred in the 'comedown' period, and some persisted for 24 hours after use."

The report says that due to its "stimulant properties, risk to health and lack of medical benefits" benzylpiperazine, or BZP, should be a controlled substance.

At present, it is not illegal in Europe to take BZP, a drug sometimes marketed as a "safe" alternative to ecstasy. A loophole in the law also allows retailers to sell the drug as a soil fertiliser, marked "not for consumption". It can be bought from websites, many operating from New Zealand, where "herbal highs" are a multimillion-dollar industry and 20% of the population has taken the drug."

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Warning about dangers of 'safe' alternative to ecstasy

Warning to clubbers over dangers of 'safe' alternative to ecstasy - Independent

Extracts:

"A teenage clubber who collapsed after taking a new dance-scene drug, which has been marketed as a "safe" alternative to ecstasy, is lucky to have survived, doctors report today.
The 18-year-old girl had taken the drug, benzylpiperazine, or BZP, at a London nightclub on a bank holiday weekend last May.

Shortly after swallowing five tablets, she collapsed and suffered a seizure lasting 10 minutes. She was taken by ambulance to hospital where she was given emergency treatment. Her pupils were dilated, her heart was racing at 156 beats per minute and her body temperature and blood pressure had plummeted."

"They warned colleagues to watch out for other young people suffering adverse reactions to the drug, which was legally available over the counter in the UK until last month.

The active ingredient in BZP is piperazine, which was developed in the Fifties as a worming medicine for veterinary use.

It has a similar chemical structure to amphetamine, a stimulant, and has become an increasingly popular alternative to ecstasy and amphetamines, being sold under names such as Pep Twisted, Legal E, Nemesis and Euphoria.

Last month, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), made the unlicensed sale of the drug illegal."