Vancouver- Hundreds of products sold as “social tonics” were taken from several adult stores in the Lower Mainland by Health Canada and police officials in a simultaneous Canada-wide seizure on Thursday.
Health Canada warns that the products, purported to be the “new breed of club pills” by Toronto-based company Purepillz, contain unauthorized drugs.
Tony Perry, who had 300 to 400 units of the product seized from his Fantasy Factory adult stores in the Lower Mainland, said that he would have pulled the product himself if Health Canada had issued a warning before taking action.
“They could have told me that they thought they were illegal. I would have taken them off the shelves,” Perry said of the mild psychedelics. “I was stunned they would come and seize them and then issue a warning saying they’re illegal. That’s upside down.”
Perry, who has been selling the packets of pills in his stores for the past four months, said he doesn’t understand why the legality of the pills is becoming an issue now.
“I’ve seen them in trade shows for the past couple of years and naturally we assumed they were legal,” Perry said. “We sell all kinds of gels and lubes, if I had to ask everyone about the legality of every ingredient I would be out of business.”
The company’s website describes the products, “Peaq”, “Freq”, “PureRush” and “PureSpun” as “safer legal alternatives to more dangerous street drugs.”
But Health Canada says that the products contain benzylpiperazine (BZP) and 3-trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (3-TFMPP), which may pose serious health risks similar to street drugs.
Effects can include increased body temperature, increased blood pressure, dilated pupils, increased euphoria, alertness and paranoia. When the two ingredients are taken together in high does they may also cause hallucinations, convulsions and slowed breathing.
While BZP has been banned in the United States, it was declared a controlled substance by the European Union in March and can be sold legally in Canada.
Purepillz, in a statement to The Province, said that the BZP formulas used in their products were developed in New Zealand as a harm minimization initiative over eight years ago to reduce demand from drugs such as crystal methamphetamine.
Health Canada is currently assessing the product to determine if the substances can be regulated under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.