Benzylpiperazine

Benzylpiperazine (BZP) is a recreational drug with euphoriant and stimulant properties. The effects produced by BZP are comparable to those produced by amphetamine. Adverse effects have been reported following its use including acute psychosis, renal toxicity and seizures. Deaths from piperazine derivatives are extremely rare, but there has been at least one death apparently due to BZP alone. Its sale is banned in several countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Romania and other parts of Europe. BZP was first synthesized by Burroughs Wellcome & Company in 1944. It is often claimed that it was originally synthesized as a potential antihelminthic (anti-parasitic) agent for use in farm animals, but its synthesis is thought to pre-date their interest in piperazines as anthelmintics. Even so, the majority of the early work with the piperazines were investigations into their potential use as anthelmintics, with the earliest clinical trials in the literature relating to piperazine being articles in the British Medical Journal in the 1950s. It was discovered that BZP had side effects and was largely abandoned as a worm treatment. It next appears in the literature in the 1970s when it was investigated as a potential antidepressant medication, but rejected when research reported that BZP had amphetamine-like effects and was liable to abuse. The study suggested that BZP "should be placed under statutory control similar to those regulating the use of amphetamine". In 1996, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration noted that it was being recreationally used in California. It also reported that BZP was being used as an adulterant in illicit drugs. In around 2000, its use increased worldwide, which was soon followed by legislative control in Europe and the United States. In New Zealand, it was initially legal, but was restricted in 2005 and later reclassified as Class C due to new evidence in 2008.