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Herbal highs a health worry

And, just so no one is confused, the pills are legal. In fact, you can buy them just about anywhere now.

The "herbal high" pills, or party pills as they are more commonly known, are the big fad sweeping the teen scene around the country.

They contain benzylpiperazine, derived from the pepper plant and legal in this country.

They, apparently, give people an extended shot of energy. Young ravers take them to get them through a whole night of partying and dancing. Some say they do a similar job to the illegal drug methamphetamine –- Speed or P.

But, as with most things that young revellers do, there is a downside. Increasing numbers of people are ending up in hospital, suffering from heart palpitations, delirium, agitation, dehydration and confusion.

Waikato Hospital emergency doctor Tonia Nicholson told the Waikato Times last week they were averaging one person a week needing treatment after overdosing. There are similar reports from around the country's emergency units.

Parliament is considering an addition to the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill, which would ban the sale of the party pills to people under 18 and place warning labels on them. Currently they fall through a legal crack as they are regarded neither as a drug nor a dietary supplement. That is the most worrying curiosity of this saga –- that something like this can go on sale without coming under scrutiny first.

What the young party animals of the country, and their worried parents, would find most useful is some sort of analysis on any dangers the pills pose. That process started late last year, with Dr John Fountain of Otago University's National Poisons Centre co-ordinating research on the pills.

That is where there is the most pressing need, and it is disconcerting that the pills remain on sale while we don't know their true health impact.

It may well work out as pill proponents (we won't call them pushers just yet) say. They claim there are no health worries and that the legal pills mean fewer people are trying heavy duty things like P, and hence it is beneficial to the community.

But until an expert can tell us that, we should be wary.

The pills are big business. It can cost more than $30 for six tablets and it is estimated more than five million of them have been ingested in the past two years. Upwards of 50,000 young Kiwis are estimated to be regular users.

If the pills, used properly, are deemed safe, there will be no reason to ban them. It would just be nice to know that before people started popping them.