Government Bans BZP - Another Illegal Drug For The Dealers to Flog...

[A_man_about_a_dog]

From BreakingNews.ie

Also just on the RTE news too....

Mary Harney announced earlier today that the previously legal stimulant BZP would be re-classified so that possession of the drug would be a criminal offense. BZP is more commonly referred to as 'herbal' ecstasy and was sold in a number of shops throughout the country. BZP has recently been reclassified in a number of EU countries, however it remains legal in the UK.

Harney said that her department was acting on an EU recommendation which came on the back of EU research which suggested that use of BZP could lead to "health risks". It doesn't say what these risks are on BN.ie but I did a quick wikipedia search (I know, I know...) and apparently there has never been a recorded fatality as a result of its' use. It does say that when BZP was mixed with MDMA (essential 'pure' ecstasy... the active ingredient) there has been 2 recorded fatalities. It also says that it is not be addictive.

RTE had that ridiculous woman from the "drugs are bad mmmmmkay" school of thought on... can't think of her name... from an organization "against drugs". Hasn't a clue what she's on about any time I've seen her on t.v., no matter what the topic.

I'm not that well up on the taxation of legal drugs but surely the government would have been earning VAT off the sale of these tablets? I know it probably wasn't that much but if they have been legal for as long as they have and there has never been a recorded fatality as a result of someone using BZP, nor do they have conclusive evidence of the health risks, would the government not have been better off conducting a bit of research into what it exactly they're banning and not relying on the EU to tell us what's best? I assume that if there were shops selling these things openly then they must not have been that dangerous because surely if there were then they would have been taken off the shelves a long time ago. Much same way as other legal drugs and food products can be recalled if their are health concerns. Nor would I have thought that the proprietors of the legal shops which sold the drug would want to be selling a potentially fatal product, not exactly good P.R if one of your customers drops dead because of something you sold them.

They've also given illegal drug dealers yet another product to flog... but I'd imagine that the dealers will probably just give the people who used to use BZP the stronger chemical version that they're already selling, no point in changing the menu. Probably not the greatest idea ever to come out of the Department of Health, not that there's been too many good ones in recent years.

I've never tried BZP or anything like that but I just can't understand why the government would ban what is effectively a relatively safe and non-fatal alternative to a drug that is already both dangerous and illegal. Surely it's counter-productive, no?

[Bobert]

That bird is Grainne Morahan and she's loopers. Still, BZP is a dangerous drug. In some cases it can cause heart problems and trigger seizures. Not lethal, but unpleasent all the same. And beides, it was first used as an anti-parasitic drug for sheep!

[A_man_about_a_dog]

That bird is Grainne Morahan and she's loopers. Still, BZP is a dangerous drug. In some cases it can cause heart problems and trigger seizures. Not lethal, but unpleasent all the same. And beides, it was first used as an anti-parasitic drug for sheep!

That's the one... complete nut!

Anyway, BZP.... I accept that's probably not the safest product out there but surely having it sold in legally owned shops is better than having people going to their local dealer who is probably just going to give them the 'real deal'? Would that not be far more dangerous?

[stateless]

Ive never heard of this drug before but if theyre banning it i really want to try it now! Bet itll get a really cool street name too......... 'beez' ??? sounds alright. Theyre never gonna learn.......

[draiocht23]

That's the one... complete nut!

Anyway, BZP.... I accept that's probably not the safest product out there but surely having it sold in legally owned shops is better than having people going to their local dealer who is probably just going to give them the 'real deal'? Would that not be far more dangerous?

The government had to ban this by March this year - I see they got there by a couple of hours - due to an EU Directive that was passed last year which reclassified BZP as a controlled substance. All EU countries have similar legislation about it.

Anyone who gets My Little Piebald e-zine will recognise this stellar warning about taking BZP in their Electric Picnic guide -

[FONT=arial]Do not resort to buying legal highs in Temple Bar. The active [/FONT][FONT=arial]ingredient, BZP, gives you a strong, speedy high but the comedown is like waking up in a playground full of dead children, with food poisoning.[/FONT]

Legal ecstasy alternative to be controlled - The Irish Times - Fri, May 16, 2008

[Wakeupcall]

While I agree that this drug is a bad one and probably best off illegal, I think common sense dictates that Ireland is a special case.

How many more farting reasons do we need for people to go across the border and how many more easy farting ways do we need to put people in prison.

Effectively someone can drive 5 mins across the farting border to legally buy some of this BZP drive back and get done for possession of a controlled substance and is therefore a criminal.

Perhaps we should have waited until the UK followed suit?

[Seos]

All EU countries have similar legislation about it.

UK get an exemption? Or is the article in the OP wrong?

[JCSkinner]

That bird is Grainne Morahan and she's loopers. Still, BZP is a dangerous drug. In some cases it can cause heart problems and trigger seizures. Not lethal, but unpleasent all the same. And beides, it was first used as an anti-parasitic drug for sheep!

She's called Grainne Kenny, and it's a disgrace that the media give her any airtime whatsoever. She makes Mary Whitehouse look sane.
As for BZP, well, in one sense it is no loss. I've never taken it but it's an animal de-wormer. I really don't see how veterinary drugs ('vitamin' K is another) could be in any way beneficial to any human.
In another sense, of course, it is more of the prohibitionist madness. The only reason there was a market for this crap in the first place is because people are not permitted to obtain, possess or ingest MDMA, which was found by The Lancet to be safer than alcohol, tobacco or many commonly used prescription medicines.
How sad is it that people who did not want to be criminalised for their choice of intoxicant were required to resort to sheep de-wormer instead?
When are we going to grow up and accept that people take intoxicants, that our current roster of legal ones are generally worse for the public health than the illegal ones, and that the war on drugs is a terribly, unsustainably expensive failure?

[shutuplaura]

I was in New Zealand recently. Off licences sell these by the counter as a matter of course. The country wasn't going to ********************e and I witnessed fewer homeless people that I would in Ireland (or Australia). Strage that.

[draiocht23]

UK get an exemption? Or is the article in the OP wrong?

Not sure to be honest.

According to the Irish Times -

Last year [2007] the EU Council of Ministers accepted the recommendation of EU Monitoring Centre for Drugs to designate BZP a controlled substance.

"Due to its stimulant properties, risk to health, the lack of medical benefits and following the precautionary principle, there is a need to control BZP," the council said.


"Control measures proportionate to the risks of the substance" and "criminal penalties" must be introduced within one year by member states, it said.