nice one

The article could have been so much more
effective as a deterrent with the addition of
one pair of photos…

As you will know, I have recently received advice from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD) recommending that BZP be classified as a Class C1 controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. The…

Party pills can improve people's driving, according to government-commissioned research on the effects of their main active ingredients.

Should we be criminalising something that not only is unlikely to cause serious harm, but actually improves road safety?

why not legalise everything, and let the stupid ones cleanse themselves from the genepool.

Indeed...why not? There is enough information/education around highlighting the dangers, it seems pointless to punish the majority for the dangerous/stupid behaviour of the minority.

No doubt I'll get harpooned by some for espousing this, but those…

That's just natural selection init?

BZP is relatively mild (dammit it all) in a recommended dose...if someone chooses to exceed the recommended dose then well...

That's just natural selection init?

Rome wasn't built in a day, we started a new initiative in an unregulated environment and for the most part it worked very well, but while we hoped to see regulation come quickly, alas, that's not what happened. I'm happy with the progress so far though -= We…

Arguably, making party pills legal was a sick joke, that has gone terribly wrong...

Really? Let's hear that argument...

I am not into drugs legal or ilegal, in fact I cannot really understand why people take them.

And you never will until you open your mind and give them a whirl.

The reasons people indulge are not particularly esoteric, and can usually be boiled down to one of opportunity,…

That said I feel the country would be far better off if drugs were…

Dr: So what seems to be the problem?
Patient: I have trouble connecting with people in social environment, and lack empathy to my fellow party goer.

And isn't that the problem.I'm going to preface my next comment by saying that I'm a boring nondrinker and nondrug taker – it doesn't…

Dumb guy slipped on a wet concrete floor and hit his head while very high, having taken as many as five pills.

Yes there would be less tragedy if people were better educated, but i don't think stupidity is too harsh a description for many deaths. If you can explain…

I agree totally, but it's not what the pro-ban lobby are interested in. People enjoy BZP (apparently): they don't enjoy paracetamol (AFAIK).

From 'E is for Ecstasy':

Taking the worst figure of seven deaths in 1991 and assuming there were only 1 million users, the risk of dying from using…

In all this war on drugs hoo ha, the one thing that the MSM fail to acknowledge is that %99.9 of all 'drug related deaths' are actually 'stupidity related deaths'.

Stupidity's a harsh word: ignorance is closer. E's interesting: when you strip out dry-drowning, heatstroke and overdose, a few people…

That reminds me of some anecdote I read once, about a project manager that punished her children by sitting them in front of a lengthy powerpoint presentation about their bad behaviour & its results. Apparently it was very effective

One could watch Dr Phil for 10 000 hours and not come…

Sale restrictions may well be a useful addition, but if your $2 supermarket brand paracetamol is the same as any other, then so should BZP be.

I agree totally, but it's not what the pro-ban lobby are interested in. People enjoy BZP (apparently): they don't enjoy paracetamol (AFAIK). If you…

In a nutshell, if I pour four glasses of different brands of 40% vodka, it doesn't matter which…

I suspect that was the point that James was making – that convenience is a far greater factor in banning substances than genuine risk.

Thanks H!

Precisely.

Perhaps instead of fining people who are caught being stupid with substances, the court could direct them to attend compulsory drug education courses that cost (and paid for by the offender) an equivalent amount? Directed to their particular thing.

That reminds me of some anecdote I read once, about a…

on second thought perhaps not...

But in all seriousness, banning BZP is stupid... so its a real shame Jim Anderton is playing such a big role in the politics of it. Socially conservative Socialists are sooo draconian.

Two words: needle exchange.

Anderton isn't really as bad as he makes himself sound sometimes. Unlike some of…

If bzp based substances were sold in a controlled environment such as a chemist then I'd be a whole lot less inclined to oppose them.

Heh, we could make them prescription only, in the vein of birth control, and the like. I can imagine the doctor's visits:

Dr: So what…

Perhaps instead of fining people who are caught being stupid with substances, the court could direct them to attend compulsory drug education courses that cost (and paid for by the offender) an equivalent amount? Directed to their particular thing.

They do that in some US states, and it gets farcical,…

About six years ago I was looking for a flat with some friends, and we were being shown around a house in Sandringham by its landlord.

He pointed out some mildew and mould in one of the bedrooms caused by one of the departing tenants having…

The place no one goes yet in the legalisation debate, but one day will, is the idea of actually developing a safer alternative to the present crop of illegal drugs

True Russell, and that's a big step. It was also a point touched on by Jim's expert committee in their…

Perhaps instead of fining people who are caught being stupid with substances, the court could direct them to attend compulsory drug education courses that cost (and paid for by the offender) an equivalent amount? Directed to their particular thing.

They do that in some US states, and it gets farcical,…

Or it could be,
Jim Anderton is on a crusade inspired…

The maths is pretty simple.
One(ish) death. 5 million+ pills sold in NZ.
4+ deaths. From how many hits of butane/lpg?

So which is the bigger problem?
And which is easier to ban?

While not disagreeing with your main point, I'm not sure that LPG is actually easier to ban.…

Meanwhile, the ODT gets onto a hot story, Cannabis growers head indoors, only about 20 years late.

The fact that our paper is a couple of decades behind the times, shouldn't be taken as a reflection of the rest of the region. We even have the inter-web-thingy down here. And…

The maths is pretty simple.
One(ish) death. 5 million+ pills sold in NZ.
4+ deaths. From how many hits of butane/lpg?

So which is the bigger problem?
And which is easier to ban?

a guy i know tried that back in his university days. apparently the ceiling access thingo was in his room, so he clambered up and built a little reflectory in there from tinfoil and incandesent bulbs.

he'd done some reading about lighting hours, and how long…