Drug banned by EU to stay on sale here

A STIMULANT drug with similar effects to ecstasy, cocaine and speed, which has been criminalised by the European Union, could remain on shelves in Ireland for up to a year.

Benzylpiperazine (BZP), which has been available for the last five or six years in so-called alternative lifestyle shops or "head stores", can induce vomiting, headaches, stomach pains, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings and confusion and even grand mal seizures, according to the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD).

Following concerns over the abuse of the drug, the EU Council of Ministers has 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.

While several members states have made BZP a controlled substance within their own borders, the Irish Government has not, despite recent health scares associated with the drug, a warning on its use by the GAA and its use in greyhound doping scandals.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said yesterday that the drug would have to be added to the controlled substances listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act and the department had "no specific timescale for the introduction of this legislation".

NACD director Maireád Lyons said the drug first came to the attention of European drugs agencies in 1999. One of the reasons it had not until now been banned along with drugs such as ecstasy was because it had only been on the market in recent years.

"New substances are always being developed," Ms Lyons added. "All it takes is for a scientist in some laboratory to change the base property and something else has been created, a new compound, that is not on the list of controlled substances."

BZP had been marketed erroneously as herbal cannabis, but was a synthetic compound, Ms Lyons said. It was initially developed as an antidepressant but when harmful side-effects emerged during clinical trials, it was discontinued.

The drug has been sold in alternative lifestyle shops contained in up to 30 different products with names such as Pep Pills, Party Pills, Legal E and Legal X.

Several of these shops contacted yesterday said they could not comment on the EU decision but were represented by the Head Shop Association of Ireland.

When contacted, the association said it felt that its input had been recognised by the EU in its formulation of the decision on BZP, but it would not be commenting further until it had consulted with its members nationally.