New Party Pill Set To Rock.
 

Release: Matt Bowden, Social Tonics Association

Date: Saturday 7th November 2009

Well known drug policy activist and rock musician Matt Bowden said that Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne’s announcement to schedule natural energy pill ingredient DMAA as a Restricted Substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act  was “welcome news.”

“I developed these products and put them on the market over 18 months ago now to replace BZP and they have proven to be a safer alternative to alcohol, methamphetamine and the other drugs, the experts have recognised this and advised against making them illegal, instead placing regulations around them to make them safer, which is a win for industry, for consumers and for public safety.”

“Peter Dunne has shown wisdom in listening to his experts this week, tight regulation gives society controls over the consumer market. The other option of banning would have handed control of the market to organised crime.” Mr Bowden identified a trend in scientific advisories the world over in recognising the failure of the so called “war on drugs” model and advising alternative, evidence based regulatory models.

“Banning consumer drugs empowers a black market; conversely blanket legalisation of drugs would also be problematic, so the third option of tight regulation means a safer market for consumers, not a black market. It is the safest option.”

The Restricted Substances category of the Misuse of Drugs Act allows for controls over how recreational consumer energy products like DMAA are manufactured, labelled, advertised and controls around dosage limits. Mr Bowden urged the Minister to prioritise dosage limits for DMAA.

“What happened with BZP was that it was reasonably safe when taken as directed, but the last Minister never put dosage limits in place, and so a competitive industry suffered from dosage escalation problems and some people got sick. This time around we want to see dosage limits in place swiftly to stop that from happening. Let’s make the regulations work this time to keep consumers even safer. That would totally rock.”

Mr Bowden said that local industry had suffered with the banning of BZP but it was encouraging to see scientists developing safer partying technology. “Let’s face it, alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs out there to socialise with, so any improvements in recreational technology should be welcomed by all.” He commented that it was still a risky industry to be in. “Personally, I am focusing on producing progressive rock music to express my views these days, it is a long time since governments banned songs.”

Matt’s progressive rock album is due for release in February 2010 and free samples can be downloaded from www.mattbowden.com

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