Only users lose drugs

Neuro Blast party pills are in the headlines this weekend. A spokesman for London Underground says that the pills' active ingredient is a proprietary herbal blend called D.O.M.S. The police national drug intelligence bureau says the pills' active ingredient is diphenyl prolinol. Someone is bullshitting.

At $40 per pack, these pills aren't cheap. Each pack contains 3 pills in a tiny zip lock bag. "Defy the laws of gravity with a pill that will have you cranking harder and longer," says the packaging blurb.

I've researched these pills a couple of times. The first time, I dropped 2 pills (the recommended dose for the 70 kg man is 2 pills) and after a while I was indeed cranking hard. But not hard enough. It was when I decided to drop the remaining pill that I realised I'd lost it. I blame the easy-to-lose, incredibly tiny zip lock bag, although my state of mind at the time may have had something to do with it.

The second time I dropped all 3 pills and was cranking harder and longer - much longer (like 24 hours). Can you sleep on it? As Dr. London says, "No, don't even bother to try."

So, is D.O.M.S. (or diphenyl prolinol) better than BZP? No, not really. Is it safer? Probably not. BZP's safety record is hard to match (an estimated 400,000 New Zealanders have consumed 20 million doses of BZP with no lasting ill effects and no deaths).

It's on the cards that BZP consumers will take more dangerous drugs - be they legal, quasi-legal or illegal - as a result of the impending BZP ban. And politicians and public opinion will be to blame.