'LEGAL E' IN LEGAL LIMBO

DRUGS / Health Canada reviewing Purepillz

Hywel Tuscano was sitting at his desk last April when a teenager came
through the door and asked, "Do you know that they're selling legal E
in Downtown Vancouver?"

Incredulous, Tuscano immediately went to Davie St to find out for
himself. What he found was Purepillz, a line of "social tonics" -
packaged pills marketed on store shelves as a safer alternative to
illegal street drugs.

Purepillz, a Canadian-owned company, has been in business for only
two years. Its selection of products contain the core ingredient
benzylpiperazine (BZP) and 3-trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine
(3-TFMPP), which mimic the effects of drugs like ecstasy and crystal meth.

BZP is banned in the US, New Zealand, Australia and several countries
in Europe but it's still legal in Canada - at least for now.

And that's good news to Erica McCormick, who first heard about
Purepillz when she was working at the Taboo sex show a few booths
down from the company. Initially skeptical of the pills' claims, her
disbelief quickly vanished when she tried them.

"I thought it was great - it was awesome, exactly like ecstasy," she
says. "I'd much rather do it [Purepillz] than ecstasy and mess up my body."

She's even converted several of her friends into fans, she says.

McCormick thinks the Purepillz line is a great substitute for harder
drugs because it provides similar effects without the potential for
physical damage.

Tuscano's feedback about the pills' effects is more lukewarm: "The
buzz was kind of the same," he says, "but it was a little bit off."

Purepillz owner Adam Wookey says the benefits of buying Purepillz are
that they're non-addictive and they're a safer alternative to street
drugs, where you may not know what you're getting.

Tuscano agrees. "I consider Purepillz safer than street drugs,
because you don't know what's in street drugs, and they're often cut
with other stuff. If people like them [Purepillz] and want to use
them, then all the power to them.

"People do weirder things," he shrugs.

Wookey says he has heard nothing but positive feedback from Purepillz users.

"They just love it," he claims. "From the people who use it, they
say, 'I'm so glad I have something safe and consistent. I just love
what you guys are doing.'"

Still, Purepillz are not without their side effects, says Dirceu Campos.

"They did definitely make me high, but I found that they gave me more
of a headache than street drugs would have," he says.

"I introduced it to some of my other friends," he continues. "And
some of them, their headaches were worse so they of swore off them."
(Campos says he and his friends followed the dosage prescribed on the package.)

Campos tried Purepillz a few times, but they were pulled off the
market before he got the chance to fully experiment with them. He
says if they were sold in shops here, he would use them again.

"I don't see why I wouldn't try them again. I don't know if I would
purchase them every weekend, but I think they make a good harm
reduction alternative."

But Purepillz may not be around for much longer if Health Canada has
anything to say about it.

Last summer, authorities yanked Purepillz products from shelves
across the country after a man in Toronto died during Pride Week
after consuming the Purepillz drug called PureRush. Reports never
conclusively linked the death to PureRush (the man had a pre-existing
heart condition).

Still, Health Canada sent out an advisory warning the public against
using Purepillz products and launched a review to determine whether
BZP should be placed on the list of banned substances under the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

That review is still underway and no deadline for its completion has
yet been set. So the pills are in legal limbo, their status uncertain
but not yet illegal.

That hasn't stopped Health Canada officials from declaring the sale
of Purepillz illegal on the basis that - while BZP is not yet
included in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act - the pills
themselves are covered by the Food and Drugs Act and therefore need a
drug identification number, which they do not have.

"Products containing BZP are considered drugs under the Food and
Drugs Act and require a drug identification number to be sold," a
Health Canada official informed Xtra West in an email after repeated
requests for an interview. "Health Canada has not issued a DIN for
any product containing BZP. Any product containing BZP being sold in
Canada is being sold illegally as unapproved products."

While Purepillz are no longer on shelves in Vancouver stores, they
are still available online, through independent direct sellers in the
city and at trade shows. The company also has plans to open its own
store in the coming months on East Hastings.

Health Canada says it can take steps to prevent people from buying
Purepillz, such as issuing public advisories and border import
alerts, conducting inspections and even seizing products, but it
can't actually shut the company down for non-compliance with the Food
and Drugs Act.

It can, however, launch a criminal investigation against the company.
But officials don't discuss investigations publicly, as a matter of policy.

Wookey believes the Purepillz line is only being labelled as drugs
under the Food and Drugs Act because of a flimsy definition that
defines a drug as something that is sold for use in "restoring,
correcting or modifying organic functions in human beings or animals."

"They're claiming it's illegal because it modifies your organic
functions," he says, "but there are many products on the market that
change your organic functions, like sugar and caffeine. They're using
it as a catch-all phrase. It's a false authority."

Wookey and Health Canada butted heads at January's Taboo sex show
when Health Canada showed up with the Vancouver Police Department for
backup and tried to confiscate Purepillz products.

Furious, Wookey stood his ground and refused to let them take
anything, telling Health Canada that they needed a warrant to
lawfully seize the pills.

Officials eventually left empty-handed, according to Wookey.

Health Canada acknowledges that it has tried to confiscate Purepillz
products because it is concerned for the health of Canadians.

"In response to its concerns regarding risk to health, Health Canada
has, in the past, seized unapproved drugs containing BZP and TFMPP at
numerous retail locations across Canada," a Health Canada official
said in an email.

"Health Canada remains concerned that these products continue to be
sold illegally. When Health Canada becomes aware of violative
products being sold, such as drugs containing BZP and TFMPP, we take
compliance and enforcement actions."

Wookey maintains his products are safe. A 2007 risk assessment of
social tonics conducted by experts in New Zealand found that
consuming substances like BZP is safer than eating peanut butter,
swimming, kayaking, smoking or drinking alcohol; and that the chance
of BZP inflicting permanent harm is about the same as being struck by
lightning.

Another study conducted by researchers in Christchurch, New Zealand
points to patients having mild to moderate toxicity and symptoms like
heart palpitations, insomnia and headaches. Health Canada says the
pills cause increased blood pressure, increased body temperature and paranoia.

In New Zealand, where social tonics first gained notoriety, over 24
million pills have been consumed with no documented deaths or
permanent harm. So far in Canada, half a million pills have been sold
with no serious adverse effects reported.

"This product has never killed anybody and has never caused
significant injury," Wookey maintains, adding that the only danger to
taking the pills is taking the wrong dosage, something the company
attempts to avert by providing clear directions in the stores and on
the package.

Ultimately, Tuscano believes the controversy surrounding Purepillz
and BZP is an opportunity for more meaningful discussions about drug use.

He says the problem lies in the lack of open discussion in our
culture about drug use.

Drugs are just there but nobody talks about it, he says, unless it's
in the context of addiction.

"Our only conversations about drugs are the scariest part of them -
which is addiction - when we should just be talking about the way
our bodies feel," Tuscano says.

"I just think there needs to be more dialogue about drugs and what they mean."

Substance use is a personal choice, Tuscano continues, and as a
culture we should not only be talking about the risks, but also the pleasures.

"People must learn for themselves which additions and subtractions
yield the effects they're looking for and what consequences each one
carries," he says.

"I work in a sugar and caffeine-fueled office," he adds. "It's no
different than taking something from 10 pm to 2 am."