Party Pill users likely to party on other drugs
victoria-university-of-wellington
Fri Oct 12 2007 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Party Pill users likely to party on other drugs
Friday, 12 October 2007, 12:27 am
Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington
MEDIA RELEASE
12 October 2007
Party Pill users more likely to party on other drugs
A Victoria University PhD student has found that party pill users are ten times more likely to be users of LSD, ecstasy, and Ritalin compared to non-users.
Kate Bryson, who is studying psychology at Victoria University, recently conducted two studies. The first one investigated whether party pills reduce drug related harm by reducing the use of illegal substances. The second study investigated the likely outcome of a ban on party pills.
"From the first study, we found that almost three-quarters of party pill users use illegal substances as well as party pills.
“Party pill users are seven times more likely to use speed and nitrous oxide, and three times as likely to be users of cannabis, P, and inhalants compared to non-users.
"It was also noted that party pill users are more interested in trying illegal drugs, and they were also under the impression that illegal drug use is less risky, compared to non-users."
Party pill users also had very poor knowledge of the ingredients of the pills they were using.
"That first study is quite clear evidence that party pills aren't fulfilling their purpose of reducing illegal drug use – for drug users, they're just another item on the menu."
For the second study, Kate surveyed a number of party pill users to see what they'd do when the pills were made illegal.
"While it was suggested that a ban would result in an increase in P or methamphetamine use, these results suggest that this is unlikely – the majority of participants said they wouldn’t use it. The illegal substance most frequently talked about by participants in the study was ecstasy."
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However, a black market for party pills could turn out to be a very lucrative one, with more than half the participants saying they were prepared to pay more than they do now for pills once they were banned.
"It's not all illegal drugs people would turn to, either," says Kate.
"Nearly half the participants said they would drink more alcohol after party pills are banned."
Kate received funding (with her supervisor, Dr Marc Wilson) from the Ministry of Health for the research, which she has spent the last 18 months conducting, and which will form the basis for her PhD thesis. She has just submitted her findings to the Ministry for review.
ENDS
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