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Background Legal highs containing benzylpiperazine (BZP) were widely sold in New Zealand until BZP was prohibited in 2008. We examined the impact the prohibition had on the availability and price of BZP over following years. Methods Two national population surveys of BZP use were conducted in 2006 and 2009. Four annual targeted surveys of frequent drug users (FDU) were conducted from 2007–2010. Availability and price measures were obtained. Inflation-adjusted real retail prices were calculated. Other drug markets were monitored as quasi-controls. Results The proportion of BZP users from the general population who considered the availability of BZP to be ‘very easy’ declined from 76% in 2006 to 21% in 2009. The proportion who thought BZP had become ‘harder’ to obtain increased from 5% in 2006 to 71% in 2009. The proportion who reported the price of BZP was ‘higher’ increased from 27% in 2006 to 51% in 2009. FDU who considered the availability of BZP to be ‘very easy’ declined from 98% in 2007 to 15% in 2008, and then increased to 42% by 2010. The real retail price of a BZP tablet increased from $9.86 in 2007 to $15.83 in 2010. The proportion who considered the price of BZP to be ‘increasing’ rose from 3% in 2007 to 47% in 2010. Conclusions The availability of BZP declined immediately following its prohibition. Availability recovered in subsequent years, but not to the pre-prohibition legal level. The price of BZP increased slowly over a number of years following the prohibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims. A large legal market for party pills containing benzylpiperazine (BZP) and trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP) developed in New Zealand after 2004. The use of these party pills has been associated with adverse health effects. The purpose of this paper was to assess a general population sample of party pill users to investigate the relationship between (1) patterns of use of BZP/TFMPP party pills and concurrent use of other drug types, and (2) adverse side effects from BZP/TFMPP party pill use. Design. A national household survey of the use of BZP/TFMPP party pills was conducted using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) facility. The quantity of BZP and TFMPP in each brand of party pill was obtained from the National Poisons Centre. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of having experienced adverse side effects from party pills. Results. The mean quantity of BZP/TFMPP taken on an occasion of greatest use was 533 mg (median 400 mg, range 43 - 2500 mg). Being female, using cannabis and other drugs concurrently with BZP/TFMPP party pills, taking large quantities of party pills in a single session and taking 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) recovery pills at the same time as party pills were independent predictors of having experienced an adverse problem from party pills. Conclusions. Females may be at greater risk of experiencing problems from BZP/TFMPP party pills due to their smaller physical size. Taking 5-HTP 'recovery' pills with party pills may increase the risk of adverse effects as both substances increase users' levels of serotonin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug use imposes a range of health and social costs on New Zealand society. Measures of the availability of drugs are important for understanding levels of drug use and changes in drug use over time. Policy makers can directly affect levels of drug availability through a range of policy tools, including age restrictions, vendor regulation, varying levels of enforcement, and changing the legal classification of drug types. This paper presents population-level data on the current availability, and recent change in availability, of the 11 most commonly used drug types in New Zealand. Alcohol, tobacco and BZP/TFMPP party pills (i.e. the legally available drugs) were found to be by far the easiest drug types to obtain. Cannabis was the most easily available illegal drug, although it was much less available than the legal drugs. Cannabis was assessed by last-year users to be relatively more difficult to obtain in 2006 compared to 1998, 2001 and 2003. Amphetamine was also assessed to be relatively more difficult to obtain in 2006 compared to 2001. The decline in the availability of amphetamine occurred during a period after 2001 of sustained focus by drug enforcement agencies on disrupting clandestine methamphetamine manufacture and supply. A fall in the availability of nitrous oxide in 2006 followed a tightening of the rules concerning its sale by the Ministry of Health. Our findings suggest that policy makers can negatively affect the availability of a drug and, in turn, its level of use, with effective policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]