Party pills
Encyclopedia
Party pills, also known as "herbal highs", "pep pills" "dance pills" and "natural power", is a colloquialism
Colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...
for a type of recreational drug whose main ingredient was originally benzylpiperazine
Benzylpiperazine
Benzylpiperazine is a recreational drug with euphoric, stimulant properties. The effects produced by BZP are comparable to those produced by amphetamine. Adverse effects have been reported following its use including acute psychosis, renal toxicity, and seizures...
(BZP), but has now expanded to a wide range of compounds with a variety of effects. BZP
Benzylpiperazine
Benzylpiperazine is a recreational drug with euphoric, stimulant properties. The effects produced by BZP are comparable to those produced by amphetamine. Adverse effects have been reported following its use including acute psychosis, renal toxicity, and seizures...
is banned in a few countries, including the USA, Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, but is available on a more or less restricted basis in many jurisdictions. A range of other piperazine derivatives have also been sold as ingredients in party pills, and many of these branded "proprietary blends" have subsequently been sold in countries around the world. Piperazine derivatives sold in this way include BZP
Benzylpiperazine
Benzylpiperazine is a recreational drug with euphoric, stimulant properties. The effects produced by BZP are comparable to those produced by amphetamine. Adverse effects have been reported following its use including acute psychosis, renal toxicity, and seizures...
, TFMPP, MeOPP
MeOPP
para-Methoxyphenylpiperazine is a piperazine derivative with stimulant effects which has been sold as an ingredient in "Party pills", initially in New Zealand and subsequently in other countries around the world.MeOPP has been found in vitro to inhibit the reuptake and induce the release of the...
, pFPP
PFPP
para-Fluorophenylpiperazine is a piperazine derivative with mildly psychedelic and euphoriant effects...
and several others. mCPP
1-(3-Chlorophenyl)piperazine
meta-Chlorophenylpiperazine is a psychoactive drug of the phenylpiperazine class. It was initially developed in the late-1970s and used in scientific research before being sold as a designer drug in the mid-2000s...
has rarely been sold as a party pill ingredient due to its tendency to cause migraine
Migraine
Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by moderate to severe headaches, and nausea...
headaches. These piperazines are usually mixed with other ingredients such as caffeine
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
, 5-HTP
5-Hydroxytryptophan
5-Hydroxytryptophan , also known as oxitriptan , is a naturally occurring amino acid and chemical precursor as well as metabolic intermediate in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin from tryptophan....
and a range of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and binders to make party pills.
In countries such as New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
where BZP and related piperazine
Piperazine
Piperazine is an organic compound that consists of a six-membered ring containing two opposing nitrogen atoms. Piperazine exists as small alkaline deliquescent crystals with a saline taste....
s have been recently made illegal, there is now increasing commercial interest in piperazine free "party pills" which are purported to produce similar effects with ingredients that will circumvent the ban. Common active ingredients (among many others) include caffeine
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
, theobromine
Theobromine
Theobromine , also known as xantheose, is a bitter alkaloid of the cacao plant, with the chemical formula C7H8N4O2. It is found in chocolate, as well as in a number of other foods, including the leaves of the tea plant, and the kola nut...
, other stimulant
Stimulant
Stimulants are psychoactive drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both. Examples of these kinds of effects may include enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion, among others...
alkaloids, octopamine
Octopamine
Octopamine is an endogenous biogenic amine that is closely related to norepinephrine, and has effects on the adrenergic and dopaminergic systems. It is also found naturally in numerous plants, including bitter orange. Biosynthesis of the D--enantiomer of octopamine is by β-hydroxylation of...
(a chemical which acts as a neurotransmitter with similar effects to dopamine
Dopamine
Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...
), blue lotus extract (Nymphaea caerulea
Nymphaea caerulea
Nymphaea caerulea, also known as the Blue Egyptian water lily or sacred blue lily, is a water-lily in the genus Nymphaea.-Distribution:Its original habitat may have been along the Nile and other locations in East Africa...
), natural sources of the LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
precursor and weak psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
agent lysergic acid amide (illegal in many countries), passionflower (sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....
which contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors), Citrus aurantium (contains small amounts of the stimulant synephrine
Synephrine
Synephrine is a drug commonly used for weight loss. While its effectiveness is widely debated, synephrine has gained significant popularity as an alternative to ephedrine, a related substance which has been made illegal or restricted in many countries due to health risks and its use as a precursor...
), glaucine
Glaucine
Glaucine is an alkaloid found in several different plant species such as Glaucium flavum, Glaucium oxylobum, Croton lechleri and Corydalis yanhusuo. It has bronchodilator and antiinflammatory effects, acting as a PDE4 inhibitor and calcium channel blocker, and is used medically as an antitussive in...
(plant derived compound usually used as cough medicine), and geranamine
Geranamine
Methylhexanamine also spelled methylhexanenamine and known as dimethylamylamine , is a dietary supplement and simple aliphatic amine used as a nasal decongestant, as well as treatment for hypertrophied or hyperplasic oral tissues...
(alkylamine compound found in geranium oil).
News and legality
Party pills and their legal status are often in the news. Matt Bowden of Stargate International, one of the original distributors of such pills and now an industry spokesperson, is regularly interviewed when issues involving party pills arise in the public arena. At one stage Prime television news presenter Alison Mau went so far as to test the effects of certain party pills. A clinical trial by ClubStargate for a pill named Ease was suspended because it contained methylone, which was claimed by the Ministry of Health to fall under New Zealand controlled drug analogue laws (although this was never proven in court).New Zealand has classified BZP-based party pills as a "Restricted Substance" by the Misuse of Drugs Act and restricted to those over 18 years. For more on the legal issues posed by party pills, see benzylpiperazine.
In late June 2007, BZP was classed as a Class D in New Zealand drug and its availability was banned by a law passed on 13 March 2008, with a six month amnesty period. As a result, many critics believe this will result in handing back power to organized crime, as young people will revert to the illegal drug MDMA, otherwise known as ecstasy. However it was not long before BZP Free alternatives appeared, offering the same effects without the illegal ingredient.
See also
- BenzylpiperazineBenzylpiperazineBenzylpiperazine is a recreational drug with euphoric, stimulant properties. The effects produced by BZP are comparable to those produced by amphetamine. Adverse effects have been reported following its use including acute psychosis, renal toxicity, and seizures...
- Methylhexanamine
- TFMPP
- MeOPPMeOPPpara-Methoxyphenylpiperazine is a piperazine derivative with stimulant effects which has been sold as an ingredient in "Party pills", initially in New Zealand and subsequently in other countries around the world.MeOPP has been found in vitro to inhibit the reuptake and induce the release of the...
- pFPPPFPPpara-Fluorophenylpiperazine is a piperazine derivative with mildly psychedelic and euphoriant effects...
- Drug abuseDrug abuseSubstance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
- Recreational drug useRecreational drug useRecreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
- Designer drugDesigner drugDesigner drug is a term used to describe drugs that are created to get around existing drug laws, usually by preparing analogs or derivatives of existing drugs by modifying their chemical structure to varying degrees, or less commonly by finding drugs with entirely different chemical structures...
- Spice (drug)Spice (drug)Synthetic cannabis is a psychoactive herbal and chemical product which, when consumed, mimics the effects of cannabis. It is best known by the brand names K2 and Spice, both of which have largely become genericized trademarks used to refer to any synthetic cannabis product...