PARTY PILLS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

National MP Jacqui Dean Has Launched A Campaign To Further Restrict
The Sale Of "Party Pills".

The sale of the pills, which are legal and widely available at a
range of shops throughout the country, was this year restricted to
those aged 18 years or over.

But MP Mrs Dean said that did not go far enough and she was now
collecting petition signatures calling for far tighter restrictions.

Mrs Dean said she had been travelling around the Otago region and had
so far collected thousands of signatures.

Her action was spurred by the sale of the pills in Oamaru shops and
some of the accompanying advertising and promotion, which appeared
aimed at people younger than 18, she told National Radio.

Mrs Dean said she believed there was support on both sides of
Parliament for a further law change restricting party pill sales and
she would lobby Health Minister Pete Hodgson on such a change early next year.

A recent study found that the active ingredient in many party pills
-- 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP) -- can cause seizures in otherwise healthy people.

The study by a group of Canterbury health professionals found that
between April and September, 61 patients were admitted on 80
occasions to Christchurch Hospital's emergency department suffering
from adverse reaction to the pills.

- NZPA