Bloody safe, drug hell or pure propaganda? : a bibliography of New Zealand publications on methamphetamine, ecstasy, and social tonics

Abstract

This paper presents a research bibliography describing the New Zealand literature relating to three stimulant drugs: ecstasy, methamphetamine ("P"), and BZP. All are used to enhance energy, prevent fatigue, and provide feelings of physical and/or mental well-being, effects brought on through similar actions on the brain and nervous system. All are used in similar settings. Two are illegal and socially unacceptable, the other is legal and tolerated. This bibliography explores the scientific and medical literature surrounding each drug, and the policy (whether governmental or non-governmental) informed by that literature. It further explores media coverage of these drugs. A search was conducted that utilised electronic databases to locate relevant documents. Key resources were Index New Zealand, the National Bibliographic Database, Newztext and MedLINE. Further searches of the catalogues of individual libraries were conducted, and internet searches identified material that has only been published in electronic form. Coverage is limited to New Zealand material (including major overseas publications by New Zealand authors) published between 1988 and 2005. The focus is on text-based material, primarily in print but also in electronic form. The bibliography contains analytical annotations for each entry, subject and author indexes, and a glossary . It is hoped that this bibliography will fill a gap in the published literature on the legal and social aspects of stimulants in New Zealand. Research has shown that no such bibliography already exists.