LEGAL PARTY PILLS AND THEIR USE BY YOUNG PEOPLE IN NEW ZEALAND: A QUALITATIVE STUDY FINAL REPORT OF FINDINGS First submitted December 2006 Revised June 2007 Janie Sheridan, PhD MRPharmS, MPS(NZ), BPharm(Hons), BA(Hons) Rachael Butler, BA The School of Pharmacy The University of Auckland New Zealand i Suggested citation: Sheridan, J. & Butler, R. (2007) Legal party pills and their use by young people in New Zealand: a qualitative study. Final report of findings (revised June 2007). University of Auckland: Auckland ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements.................................................................................................................. v Glossary................................................................................................................................... vi Executive Summary of Results............................................................................................. vii 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Structure of this report .........................................................................................1 1.2 Background literature...........................................................................................1 1.3 Rationale for researching young people’s use of party pills................................4 2.0 Study Aims ......................................................................................................................... 6 3.0 Methods .............................................................................................................................. 7 3.1 Youth development approach as defined in the YDSA .......................................7 3.2 Sampling ..............................................................................................................7 3.3 Focus groups and interviews with young people.................................................7 3.3.1 Inclusion Criteria ..........................................................................................7 3.3.2 Recruitment of participants...........................................................................8 3.3.3 Data collection ..............................................................................................9 3.4 ‘Key informant’ interviews................................................................................11 3.4.1 Inclusion Criteria ........................................................................................11 3.4.2 Recruitment of Participants.........................................................................11 3.4.3 Data Collection ...........................................................................................12 3.5 Data analysis ......................................................................................................12 3.6 Ethical approval .................................................................................................12 4.0 Results............................................................................................................................... 13 4.1 Focus groups and interviews with young people...............................................13 4.1.1 Description of sample .................................................................................13 4.1.2 General perceptions of LPPs.......................................................................13 4.1.3 First use of LPPs .........................................................................................14 4.1.4 Accessing LPPs...........................................................................................15 4.1.5 Places and context of use ............................................................................19 4.1.6 Frequency of LPP use .................................................................................21 4.1.7 Dosage.........................................................................................................22 4.1.8 Routes of administration.............................................................................24 4.1.9 LPPs and use of other drugs........................................................................25 4.1.10 Users’ knowledge about LPPs ..................................................................27 4.1.11 Function of use and positive effects..........................................................30 4.1.12 Negative effects of LPP use......................................................................34 4.1.13 Use of support services .............................................................................40 4.1.14 Awareness, knowledge and views of legislation, and impact of legislation on attitudes and behaviour ...................................................................................40 4.2 ‘Key informant’ interviews................................................................................42 4.2.1 Description of sample .................................................................................42 4.2.2 Perceptions of LPP user demographics, usage patterns, trends in use........43 4.2.3 Positive and negative effects of use............................................................47 4.2.4 Perceptions of party pills ............................................................................52 4.2.5 Industry views.............................................................................................57 4.3 Comparing and contrasting key informant and young people data ...................60 5.0 Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 62 iii 6.0 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 64 7.0 Research questions generated by this study.................................................................. 70 8.0 Recommendations............................................................................................................ 71 9.0 References ........................................................................................................................ 72 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The contribution of young people throughout the research process was central to this study. We offer a big thank you to all those who participated and shared their views and experiences. Others provided advice and feedback along the way. This included young people employed at Youthline (Auckland), and members of the Youth Advisory Council in South Auckland. We are grateful to the individuals working in youth or substance use-related areas who participated in the research, and willingly gave up their time to share their knowledge and expertise. Annabel Prescott provided valuable support to the research team, assisted with some of the data collection and analysis, and gave advice on recruitment processes and young people’s participation in research. Terry Fleming provided support, advice and assistance with data interpretation. We would like to acknowledge the contribution of a number of individuals who imparted invaluable advice to the research team. This included Jo Jackson, Tuhakia Keepa, Monique Leerschool, Dr. Helen Moriarty and Dr. Kumanan Rasanathan. Matt Bowden from Stargate International also provided assistance at the start of the project. There were a number of people and organisations in Auckland, Nelson and Christchurch who contributed advice, helped with recruitment, and provided venues for conducting the research. This included fieldworkers in Christchurch who provided assistance with recruitment. In order to protect the identity of research participants it is not possible to name all of these individuals. The study was funded from the National Drug Policy Discretionary Grant Fund which is jointly managed by the Inter-Agency Committee on Drugs and the Ministerial Committee on Drug Policy. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the funder. v GLOSSARY Individual interview: research interview consisting of one participant only. ‘Friendship’ pair: a research interview involving two participants, who were known to each other and elected to take part in the study together. ‘Friendship’ group: a group discussion involving three or more participants, who were known to each other and elected to take part in the study together. Young people / youth: whilst the authors recognise that in different contexts these terms can refer to specific age bands, the terms are used interchangeably in this report. Snowballing: a method of recruitment where participants identify people they know who may be interested in taking part in the study. This approach has shown to be effective in reaching ‘hidden’ populations, such as drug users (Faugier & Sargeant, 1997). vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF RESULTS • The use of legal party pills (LPPs), also known as ‘social tonics’, ‘herbal highs’ and legal party drugs, has become a popular activity in New Zealand, in particular amongst young people (Wilkins, Girling, Sweetsur, Huckle, & Huakau, 2006). It is estimated that 50,000 four pill packs are sold every month and that the industry has sales of $24 million dollars per year (Perrott, 2005). These substances contain chemicals such as benzylpiperazine (BZP) and m-trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP). BZP has been shown to have amphetamine-like activity (Campbell, Cline, Evans, Lloyd, & Peck,