Is the World’s Weirdest Drug Market in New Zealand? | The War on Drugs

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  • čas přidán 22. 04. 2024
  • New Zealand is a long way from anywhere, and drug cartels have traditionally not bothered sending them much cocaine or heroin. So, Kiwis have had to improvise - and they discovered a love for meth, and random new chemicals no one’s ever heard of.
    This was all getting very dangerous, with rising addiction and biker gangs fighting over territory. Then one man - a steam-punk glam-rock musician named Starboy - decided to try and end New Zealand’s drug war once and for all. And he almost managed it!
    00:00 Intro
    02:17 Meeting rock star and drug entrepreneur Matt Bowden
    04:33 The rise of dangerous synthetic drugs
    Watch more from this series:
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    • World News
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Komentáře • 3,6K

  • @VICE
    @VICE  Před rokem +28

    WATCH NEXT ➡The Craziest Ways Cartels Traffic Drugs - czcams.com/video/kSNYzTwyqaE/video.html

    • @browneyez_
      @browneyez_ Před 5 měsíci +1

      That guy! He wanting to find alternative safer drugs instead of just not doing at all after his loved ones died ??!!!!!!! GOD IS WATCHING YOU! 🤦
      ...whoever reading do not do drugs and alcohol. Be sober ✝️.

    • @crazestyle83
      @crazestyle83 Před 2 měsíci

      Lazy old content

    • @AncientRylanor69
      @AncientRylanor69 Před 2 měsíci +1

      yea no we've seen whats happened in Portland, new York & California wen they legalized all drugs.

  • @brookchamberlain2767
    @brookchamberlain2767 Před rokem +3254

    As a New Zealander, I can safely say the next health crisis in the country will be related to vaping. Pretty much every 13 year old at high school is full time addicted to vaping these days at nicotine doses 5 x that of standard cigarette. It's crazy.

    • @traviskruger5126
      @traviskruger5126 Před rokem +123

      It's been like that for a few years now, it hasn't just started

    • @kyles664
      @kyles664 Před rokem +458

      land of the long white cloud

    • @MILLIONAIRE_MINDDZ
      @MILLIONAIRE_MINDDZ Před rokem +21

      @@kyles664 im from new zealand but nice

    • @NoxiousStyles
      @NoxiousStyles Před rokem +113

      When I pick my daughter up from intermediate all the kids are walking out and just flopping out their vapes like its nothing. I’m in Gizzy but I’m sure it’s the same across the country

    • @scottysencounters
      @scottysencounters Před rokem +43

      Same as here in Australia

  • @ahorrell
    @ahorrell Před rokem +2674

    Kiwi here. This documentary is basically pretty good, but it makes a couple of mistakes.
    The first mistake is small - BZP never really functioned as a meth replacement. BZP was a socially acceptable drug that was used occasionally by the general population (kinda like the UK with E back in the day). Meth, on the other hand, was a socially UN-acceptable drug that was used heavily by a small part of the population. I did a lot of BZP back in the day, and so did everyone around me. I had mates who did a lot of meth. There wasn't a lot of cross over - the meth people mostly hung out with each other cos they didn't want to share their meth or get judged or spend their money on drugs that weren't meth. Matt might like to claim he was disrupting the meth market (while making millions for himself!) but I'm not convinced.
    The second mistake is bigger - conflating the 2000s wave of BZP/TMFPP (which was basically an ecstasy / 'tripstasy' replacement) with the 2010s wave of synthetic cannabinoids (aka 'sinnies'). The BZP wave did very little harm considering how big it was, but the sinnies wave caused serious problems. A lot of regular weed smokers shifted to sinnies, and a lot of people died. Sinnies were far more addictive and dangerous than either weed (which it replaced) or BZP/TMFPP (which it gets compared to). In a country with very very few overdose deaths, people were literally dying in the streets. Instead of allowing these mostly untested substances, the govt should have loosened cannabis law.
    In both the BZP wave and the sinnies wave, it wasn't really a shift from 'dangerous' drugs to 'safe' drugs - it was more of a shift from illegal drugs (coming from dealers) to legal drugs (coming from shops). The govt was fine with this loose policy framework during the BZP wave, but when the sinnies came along and caused real issues with addiction and death, that looseness came to an end.
    So all in all, a good doco. Interesting. But yeah, not a very nuanced take on the nature of these very different substances, their relative harms, and how those things fed into the govt policy.

    • @Rein_heart
      @Rein_heart Před rokem +53

      You’re just referencing your world. Not Nz scene at whole

    • @joshuavincent7884
      @joshuavincent7884 Před rokem +28

      Thanks for the insight

    • @dinornis
      @dinornis Před rokem +106

      I do think they could've talked to more experts, especially more representation in communities most harmed (e.g. Māori and Pacific communities), rather than just a British person (who may have good expertise! But lacks lived experience) and someone on the nightclub scene (again, expertise, knows a lot of people, and has had a huge impact, but still not so much lived experience as someone in a marginalised community turning to meth). Gangs would've also been interesting to talk to (gang =/= pushing meth and violence).
      Also thought it was interesting they didn't mention more recent events like the non-binding referendum around decriminalisation (which unfortunately people voted against by a small margin after significant fear campaigns from groups like Family First) & the decision to not decriminalise anyway.
      Same with NZ being first in the world (?) to allow drug testing at festivals. Know Your Stuff would've been good to talk to around statistics & knowing what's on the partying scene currently (not the same as the meth scene), or even Chlöe Swarbrick around what they're trying to do in terms of harm reduction. Could've been cool to boost efforts of people like Chlöe working in changing legislation.

    • @lockysmith426
      @lockysmith426 Před rokem

      ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS TO BLAME R...SM AND COLONIZA..ON, ask anyone from a marginalized community why they're doing it and they'll say it's because there's nothing else to do in this town and not a single person will say racism or colonization made them do it, its the gangs who are selling them the d..gs not raci.ts or Captian Cook, can you imagine the cops finding m3th on someone and their excuse is, sorry officer rac.sm made me do it, do really think that will hold up in court ? We need to adress the real reasons why people use it and not make excuses otherwise nothing will ever get fixed.

    • @ahorrell
      @ahorrell Před rokem +42

      @@dinornis Chlöe would have been amazing on this. There's not many people who can speak better on the topic. Some of the experts will know more, but she's just a really good communicator. And she understands the health side, the ethics side, and the politics side to it

  • @CristiandlfDeval
    @CristiandlfDeval Před 5 dny +11

    I started doing drugs since my teenage, got addicted to heroin. Spent my whole life fighting heroin addiction. I suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Heroin addiction actually destroyed my life. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 6 years totally clean. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.

    • @RaymondEMartinez
      @RaymondEMartinez Před 5 dny

      Amen God bless people. Save your health save your mind. Life is better without heroin, cocaine, alcohol and cigarettes. And you have more money in your pocket. God bless everyone who has rejected the devils intentions to be addicted to alcohol and cigarettes etc which can cause so much damage to health.

    • @Bastianbishops
      @Bastianbishops Před 5 dny

      Can you help me with the reliable source 🙏. I'm 56 and have suffered for years with addiction, anxiety and severe ptsd, I got my panic attacks under control myself years ago and they have come back with a vengeance, I'm constantly trying to take full breaths but can't get the full satisfying breath out, it's absolutely crippling me, i live in Germany. I don't know much about these mushrooms. Really need a reliable source!! Can't wait to get them

    • @SusanaGomez-mp8sk
      @SusanaGomez-mp8sk Před 4 dny +3

      YES very sure of Dr.benfungi. I have the same experience with anxiety, depression, PTSD and addiction and Mushrooms definitely made a huge huge difference to why am clean today.

    • @Edennnn926
      @Edennnn926 Před 4 dny

      Congrats! I'm really happy for you that your wife decided to help you. I always admire those who beat their addiction. Knowing it's possible to fix your life knowing there's people out there that have done what I thought was impossible gives me hope I will make it through as well. Those who share their experiences don't know how much it helps when you're about to give up, it gives you the strength knowing somone who actully know what it's like to go through this tell you it's possible, it's not the same somone telling you you can do it when they have no idea what it's like, but hearing somone who knows what it's like that helps a lot since you understand it firsthand and made it out gives so much hope. so thanks for sharing.

    • @FredaMartins
      @FredaMartins Před 4 dny

      How do i reach out to him? Is he on Instagram

  • @Jennifer-bw7ku
    @Jennifer-bw7ku Před 3 měsíci +653

    Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.

    • @APOLLINAIREBARTHOLOMIEU
      @APOLLINAIREBARTHOLOMIEU Před 3 měsíci

      Can you help with the reliable source I would really appreciate it. Many people talk about mushrooms and psychedelics but nobody talks about where to get them. Very hard to get a reliable source here in Australia. Really need!

    • @elizabethwilliams6651
      @elizabethwilliams6651 Před 3 měsíci +1

      Yes, dr.sporesss. I have the same experience with anxiety, depression, PTSD and addiction and Mushrooms definitely made a huge huge difference to why am clean today.

    • @steceymorgan814
      @steceymorgan814 Před 3 měsíci

      I wish they were readily available in my place.
      Microdosing was my next plan of care for my husband. He is 59 & has so many mental health issues plus probable CTE & a TBI that left him in a coma 8 days. It's too late now I had to get a TPO as he's 6'6 300+ pound homicidal maniac.
      He's constantly talking about killing someone.
      He's violent. Anyone reading this Familiar w/ BPD know if it is common for an obsession with violence.

    • @APOLLINAIREBARTHOLOMIEU
      @APOLLINAIREBARTHOLOMIEU Před 3 měsíci

      Is he on instagram?

    • @elizabethwilliams6651
      @elizabethwilliams6651 Před 3 měsíci

      Yes he is. dr.sporesss

  • @emperorofpluto
    @emperorofpluto Před rokem +2032

    Vice is a critically important medium for the critically important issue of drug law reform and the only one that presents alternatives to the status quo.

    • @libbad7419
      @libbad7419 Před rokem +1

      Nice 👍

    • @a.paulling7428
      @a.paulling7428 Před rokem

      Just me or has Vice conveniently looked over Bowden's involvement in synthetic cannabis development here??
      My mistake just realised it doesnt align with the narrative of his party pills as the potential launch pad to global drug law reform. As you were.

    • @germanfury
      @germanfury Před rokem +40

      they still do some good work. shame how biased they are at times though

    • @AW-lq9bf
      @AW-lq9bf Před rokem

      Which department of vice do you work for?.... They started this by saying NZ is best know for LOTR.... imagine reducing a country to a film location. its 95% garbage

    • @libbad7419
      @libbad7419 Před rokem +7

      Why do people's comments keep getting wiped. Surprising really considering the Liberal stance Vice portrays. I really can't see it being YT

  • @Joy-TheLazyCatLady
    @Joy-TheLazyCatLady Před rokem +2139

    I'm really tired of hearing about the war on drugs. It's a waste of time and money. You will never stop people from wanting to escape reality. As long as they are grown adults, let them have their recreational drugs. Provide education on whatever substances are available. They are only hurting themselves and it is really no one else's business but the person doing it. The only problem would be providing it to underage youths or operating machinery while high. Hey, sounds just like alcohol, huh. Imagine that.

    • @5w4mpK1ll
      @5w4mpK1ll Před rokem

      War on addicted whites

    • @ojsimpson9516
      @ojsimpson9516 Před rokem +221

      Idk , I kinda agree but I don’t. I live in NYC and everywhere you are surrounded by people who are under the influence of hardcore drugs. They make things gross. They piss on the trains , have crazy freak out moments , pick random fights, and are overall unstable as hell. Maybe public intoxication should be a heavier and more well enforced fine.

    • @uabforfindingthisbutalr6464
      @uabforfindingthisbutalr6464 Před rokem +178

      @@ojsimpson9516 thats because drugs are illegal, and they have to resort to buying drugs from ppl who lace them with other sht, but yeah public intoxication should be the same as with alchohol

    • @jimmyc6686
      @jimmyc6686 Před rokem +15

      Jack Hoffman from Gold Rush operates heavy equipment while high on oxycontin.

    • @SupaNIWA
      @SupaNIWA Před rokem +70

      I disagree, we have enough problems with drunk driving, fk imagine these lunatics on drugs, imagine the chaos they can cause, especially on the road.

  • @Ariana-wk3ec
    @Ariana-wk3ec Před rokem +555

    We also have horrible alcohol abuse here in Aotearoa. My papa was one. This type of stuff makes you unrecognisable to your whanau. Thankfully when my dad went to prison and came back after 2 years, he stopped doing all drugs. Was completely sober and he wanted to help our whole whanau to stop doing drugs. Including the young ones. But, his 40 years of drinking and drugs caught up and he passed away from a heart disease 2 years ago. They said the pain of losing a loved one goes away with time but I still miss my beautiful papa ay😢now almost all my siblings have started smoking and drinking. Definitely a cycle which has been created in Aotearoa. It needs to stop. Heaps of our loved ones pass away too young. I'm never gonna go near that yuck stuff far

    • @DeezNutz-ce5se
      @DeezNutz-ce5se Před rokem +8

      I feel so bad for you.
      But you're a really smart kid for not doing that drugs!
      Go study and make a success of your life.

    • @budawang77
      @budawang77 Před rokem +5

      Good for you. Stay strong and be a good example for your relatives.

    • @bremCZ
      @bremCZ Před rokem +9

      As someone who grew up in NZ then moved to Europe, the alcohol abuse in NZ is fairly light compared with much of the rest of the developed world.
      It needs to get better, but in the grand scheme of things, NZ is doing fairly well.

    • @theobserver2309
      @theobserver2309 Před rokem +1

      Aotearoa? You've been brainwashed. The name of the country is New Zealand. Stop the woke hype.

    • @bremCZ
      @bremCZ Před rokem +8

      @@theobserver2309 Yes, Aotearoa, its in the national anthem, on the money and the passport. It's not brainwashing to accept that a country can have more than one name. Quite the opposite.

  • @GeorgeHenderson
    @GeorgeHenderson Před rokem +17

    Kiwi here - before Kiwis learned to make meth they had worked out how to make morphine, and heroin (mostly monomethylmorphine, basically as good) from codeine, which was available in OTC meds at the time. This formula was originally devised here in WW2 just in case during the Japanese advance, another example of geography being destiny, and laid in a university library somewhere until some keen student unearthed it in the 1980s. Many of my friends were homebake heroin cooks, some moved to meth once codeine was restricted.

  • @KGBgringo
    @KGBgringo Před rokem +1682

    There was a brief moment when we could buy those P.E.P pills here in the UK, I remember being told they were from NZ but this is fascinating to learn the story behind them. P.E.P pills were great, I know some casual drug users and they started using them instead of searching out mdma or coke every weekend. I truly believe if that market had been allowed to remain we would have seen a lot safer party/rave scene and stopped money going in to violent hands.

    • @nathengrim5041
      @nathengrim5041 Před rokem +21

      Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't raves looked down on and borderline illegal over there at one point?

    • @KGBgringo
      @KGBgringo Před rokem +57

      @@nathengrim5041 yes, they passed a law in 94 to make them illegal, didn't stop them though, the scene just got pushed back underground and more localised as you'd have lots of small rigs around the country doing parties at the weekend. Sometimes we'd start at a party in Devon and go from there to one in Wales the next day and just keep going until back to work on Monday.
      It's still kind of happening now, not sure how Covid has effected it but Teknival was still quite a big thing when I last noticed it and I know raves do happen, I'm just too old and boring to be involved any more.

    • @bossdog1480
      @bossdog1480 Před rokem +4

      Doesn't work like that in the real world. The crims just get hold of the ingredients elsewhere, (China), and make and sell their own version without quality control. Just got to follow the money when it comes to these kinds of things.

    • @jorgenoname6062
      @jorgenoname6062 Před rokem +6

      Money will always be in violent hands. Thats how it got there to begin with

    • @lunapixie26
      @lunapixie26 Před rokem +13

      I remember PEP pills. We bought a load of them and sold them on out festival stall. They were great as long as you didn't drink. Couldn't believe thr NZ government made them.

  • @scottr4592
    @scottr4592 Před rokem +70

    Hamilton without a mask, hovering over a table of powder was the best part of this video

    • @fableagain
      @fableagain Před 2 měsíci +1

      I didn't even realise but you're so right lmao

  • @maniadoslivros.jopereira
    @maniadoslivros.jopereira Před 2 měsíci +1

    Excelent work, as always! congratulations.

  • @user-Coycat1985
    @user-Coycat1985 Před rokem +2

    Great content dude. Keep up the good work

  • @philipholman1713
    @philipholman1713 Před rokem +309

    that meth though. scary times. it starts off being the best thing in the world. you are funnier, harder working, youve got ideas just busting out of your brain. it can do incredible things. THEN. it's hiding in your apartment peeking through the blinds. it's being on all fours raking through the carpet for that rock you know you dropped the night before. you sell everything. you are all of a sudden in the scrap market picking up anything that you can sell to get high. at the end I was sleeping in my truck in January in pa. I remember there would be ice on the INSIDE of my windshield because of my own perspiration. it the most evil , accessable drug on the market. incredibly cheap for what it does to you. sober from that 7 yrs. I moved 1200 miles because I was scared I was going to go to my spots. ruined a marriage a relationship with 3 beautiful grown now kids. I'm older so I guess wiser. looking back I'm just grateful to have my crap together and gained back what I recklessly have away.

    • @jessedevilbiss8436
      @jessedevilbiss8436 Před rokem +28

      Glad you made it. Most don't.

    • @thestraydog
      @thestraydog Před rokem +12

      It's so awful, I've never tried it but I know so many people who got hooked. You might not overdose but it seems like it takes your life in other ways...

    • @sarge_4412
      @sarge_4412 Před rokem +20

      Your 100% spot on. I was on meth for 6 years straight, had to leave NZ to get away from it, been clean for over 5 years now 😁

    • @rhoynedev
      @rhoynedev Před rokem +1

      I'm in the UK so maybe a cultural difference, but doesn't everyone know this about meth before they take it?

    • @richardjones1737
      @richardjones1737 Před rokem +2

      @@rhoynedev same for most drugs people know but still take them. Luckily for us meth isn't such a big thing here in the UK although spice and the such is just as bad. People will always try and do what they wanna do

  • @imalright2837
    @imalright2837 Před rokem +1051

    As someone who grew up in a household whose dad was addicted to meth I strongly disagree that the dangers of meth is overstated. You would too if your dad‘s paranoia had him randomly pulling weapons on you.

    • @UndergroundObsession
      @UndergroundObsession Před rokem +85

      Sorry that happened friend

    • @jsilva7005
      @jsilva7005 Před rokem +40

      Sorry that happened man. I’ve done meth on and off for the past 3 years along with heroin. Can’t imagine how much meth you would have to do to get that paranoid.

    • @riccardoportelli4065
      @riccardoportelli4065 Před rokem +23

      @@jsilva7005 Crazy to be this honest online but respectful too, have you got your use under control or are you reliant?

    • @DanB1987
      @DanB1987 Před rokem +35

      @@jsilva7005 uppers and downers.. Crazy mix.. I think it depends on the person and I feel it's more the lack of sleep and food that messes up a lot of the full on meth users not the meth itself..

    • @user-ri1bu3mu8c
      @user-ri1bu3mu8c Před rokem +28

      @@jsilva7005 No sleep, when someone stays awake for days on it can cause hallucinations and delusions

  • @DrPrewitt
    @DrPrewitt Před 2 měsíci +3

    This is a strategic shift in thinking and replicates work completed in the early days of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. The typical message had been one grounded in fear. When the message was shifted to empowerment messages, the intended behavior changes began to emerge. There is a ton of research to back this up and you seem to have found it intuitively. Good on you!

  • @CianWalsh-vr7pi
    @CianWalsh-vr7pi Před 4 měsíci +55

    Psychedelics saved me from years of uncontrollable depression, anxiety, and illicit pills addiction. Imagine carving heavy chains for over a decade and then all of a sudden that burden is gone. Believe it or not, in a couple of years they'll be all over for treatment of mental health related issues.

    • @AugustasBalciunas
      @AugustasBalciunas Před 4 měsíci

      yes, that's right, I researched and found out that shrooms are helpful in many ways but nobody talks about where to get them. Very hard to get a reliable source I can reach out to

    • @LiamGoossens
      @LiamGoossens Před 4 měsíci +3

      Sporeville... Is pretty commendable and a very intelligent mycologist. He saved my life honestly

    • @ParragaZambrano-lo9re
      @ParragaZambrano-lo9re Před 4 měsíci

      they've helped me a lot as well I'm a war vet diagnosed with PTSD. A lot of issues spun out of control when I came home. This is something i looked up and tried after trying the roller coaster of antidepressants. Day and night difference

    • @AugustasBalciunas
      @AugustasBalciunas Před 4 měsíci

      How do I reach out to him? Is he on Instagram

    • @LiamGoossens
      @LiamGoossens Před 4 měsíci

      Yes, he is, Sporeville.

  • @itsmoneyoverbitches
    @itsmoneyoverbitches Před rokem +208

    *I like how the one guy has a full face respirator and there's a guy standing right next to him explaining what he's doing with no mask what so ever lol*

    • @kurtilein3
      @kurtilein3 Před rokem +57

      Hamilton Morris has built up resistance to any drug imagineable.

    • @actionfaction2558
      @actionfaction2558 Před rokem +7

      @@kurtilein3 Right, I was about to say something similar, dudes a connoisseur…

    • @RockyRMR
      @RockyRMR Před rokem

      Vice is fake.

    • @ibrahmaina7073
      @ibrahmaina7073 Před rokem +4

      He doesn't need one for a one time exposure..unlike those who work with it everyday..Kinda like Xrays

    • @Dranectrakon
      @Dranectrakon Před rokem +5

      Hamilton Morris is drugs.

  • @judelarkin2883
    @judelarkin2883 Před rokem +620

    I was in NZ in 07 and saw those “party pills” being advertised everywhere there. It is interesting to know the story behind that.

    • @wolfgangvonuce9615
      @wolfgangvonuce9615 Před rokem +32

      I used to take them every week back in 05,Wellington NZ they were the best. Grinners 6pk capsules $40,pop 2 with 6pk of beer and you party all night haha🤣don't know the story behind it but it was a sad day when they banned them

    • @RyanBlundell
      @RyanBlundell Před rokem +15

      @@wolfgangvonuce9615 Grins gave me the worst headaches. For me Jax by London Underground were the best. I was a human test monkey. Bolts, Charge, Good stuff, Hummer to name a few. I remember waiting outside St James and the promo girls used to always hand them out for free

    • @trevoragar0447
      @trevoragar0447 Před rokem

      @@wolfgangvonuce9615 ⁰pppp

    • @lightfoot.2000
      @lightfoot.2000 Před rokem +1

      I wøöd go hard! on the Charge pills and have a Great! time at the HardHouse gigs in the mid 2000s in Wellys 🤪

    • @hhhlow
      @hhhlow Před rokem +19

      @@wolfgangvonuce9615 Funny enough, synthetic Marijuana is what caused the ban on all synthetic drugs in NZ.

  • @peterdykzeul3074
    @peterdykzeul3074 Před rokem +104

    As an older Kiwi we have a shocking drug problem in NZ. 40 plus years ago it was just marijuana and alcohol. That was it. I knew only one person in my youth that tried anything harder and it was heroin from his Dutch cousins that were visiting. He tried it twice in several weeks until his friends said that they would do him some serious bodily harm if he did it again. He never did. We were all content at just a drink and a tote. Up North were I lived it was everywhere. I remember going to parties and there would be a bowl of it on the table. Help yourself. I stopped when I was 21 as it was not me and all my friends stopped by they time they were mid 20's.
    I am just extremely grateful the drugs now were not around when I was a teenager. Smoking marijuana did not seem to cause the problems and crime we see now.
    From my perspective it seems that so many people just want to escape reality or are bored and unhappy with life.

    • @jamesstevens3178
      @jamesstevens3178 Před rokem

      We've always had shocking drug problem in nz We've got more drunks per head than any other country kiwis love piss and the ABs

    • @Greta_Gremlin
      @Greta_Gremlin Před rokem +5

      Agree that piss and weed was very much the majority's drug of choice. But speaking as an an older NZer also, and a recovering opioid addict, there definitely was opiates around from 40+ years on, and *quite* a lot in some places. Don't forget Mr. Asia, followed by homebake for eg. Prescription opioids as stated in the doco. Everything else available overseas was being used in adjacent circles to mine, most of it easily attainable (if not fairly expensive for some things).
      Sometimes people assume if they haven't seen people they know using certain drugs, then the rest of the country isn't seeing it either, but that's the thing about the underbelly. Not everyone sees it.

    • @donatedflea
      @donatedflea Před rokem +2

      Peter this may come as a shock to you but our country is tame with drugs compared to most. Although its getting worse.

    • @bingonamo7520
      @bingonamo7520 Před rokem +1

      @@donatedflea Yeah, everyone does coke in Europe and in all of the Americas.

    • @bingonamo7520
      @bingonamo7520 Před rokem +1

      Those Dutch cousins of his were arseholes to give him herion. And in a country where that costs a fortune. Imagine if he'd become an addict. He'd have had no choice but to go the Sydney where it was much cheaper and either prostitute himself or become a drug mule, both of which were and are very dangerous in a place like Sydney.

  • @paatrick90
    @paatrick90 Před rokem +3

    Most honest comment section I've seen in a while. So much POVs and stories.

  • @twangology
    @twangology Před rokem +87

    Kiwi here - Matt Bowden also introduced NZ to a legal high called "Ease". It lasted about a year before the Minstry of Health and government realised it was an MDMA analogue also known as Methylone or BK-MDMA. Other NZ "Companies" were selling Mephedrone and Methylone between 2006-2010 before the UK media blew up and sensationalized the dangers of them and thus became the new era of Party Pills and Synthetic Cannaboids. The NPS then quashed any potential legal high manufacturers in our country because in order to develop and test, you had to pay a flat fee of $1,000,000 NZ. So this is why no further legal highs have been manufactured and our population of drug users resort to underground gang driven Crystal Meth and Synthetics. There appears to be a war on harm reduction rather than a war on drugs in our country.

    • @twangology
      @twangology Před rokem

      @JD LOOM agreed

    • @magingi
      @magingi Před rokem +5

      Kiwi here too. I agree; 'a war on harm reduction'.

    • @nonethy-9914
      @nonethy-9914 Před rokem

      Bro I remember those. Did you ever get the drops? You'd just snort the drops and you'd get high asf hella fast 😂

    • @twangology
      @twangology Před rokem

      @@nonethy-9914 in New Zealand? there were only pressed pills and caps.

    • @nonethy-9914
      @nonethy-9914 Před rokem

      @@twangology yup New Zealand. Got mine in Hastings when I was roughly 16.

  • @user-uu4lp7hr6r
    @user-uu4lp7hr6r Před rokem +11

    私は日本人だが、このようなVICEチャンネルのような独立性が担保されている動画はとてつもなく貴重だと思う。

  • @matthewdonoghue321
    @matthewdonoghue321 Před 19 dny

    Man... a whole lot of info I didn't know about my own country. Thanks Brother.

  • @helkat9876
    @helkat9876 Před rokem

    ,,crystal meat-pff..” thats a reallly efficient way to quickly indicate that u express contempt for the subject ur currently talking about/mentioning aaaand not inerviening yourself at the same time

  • @andreaswijngaarden7390
    @andreaswijngaarden7390 Před rokem +270

    New Zealander here, I have to say there is a very high use rate among youth for cannabis, as to be expected, but the introduction of the synthetic cannabis had an incredibly negative affect in the last decade. I’ve also lost a couple mates to bath salts, which has become a common, cheaper to produce alternative, disguised as MDMA or ecstasy. From my point of view that has had the biggest impact on me in New Zealand having lived here all my life, but definitely seen my fair share of others using other stuff such as Meth. Interesting the perspective and points raised in this, and was unaware of the BZP drama as I was a 2000’s baby. Anyways, Stay safe !

    • @Trenclenmen
      @Trenclenmen Před rokem +2

      Bk-mdma (analog of MDMA) used to be as legal as bzp was. Both came with one hell of a comedown.

    • @evagrace2231
      @evagrace2231 Před rokem

      Kiwi here too- so much synthetic cannabis is destroying lives, everyone I know knows someone that’s been affected by it

    • @brobinson8614
      @brobinson8614 Před rokem +7

      Yes I totally agree. I posted this in the main comment section, but will fit here nicely too...
      >>>>The big problem is people in NZ can't easily get Ecstasy (MDMA). Worse the crime class for possession of Ecstasy wasn't worth the risk of importation. This made many people try the legal synthetics and backyard manufacturing of Meth.
      Had the government decriminalised Ecstasy none of that would have happened. As far as I'm aware the UK doesn't have as big a Meth issue as NZ does because Ecstasy is easily available in the UK, plus the harms from E are a lot lower than Meth.
      The animal testing of legal highs in NZ was one of the biggest hurdles as the public found out about the 'LD50' toxicity test that meant 50% of animals had to die from poisoning of each drug, to establish toxic dosing (as done on all new medicines ). The public didn't want animals dying for people to get high. A massive protest at parliament and a large petition helped sway the government to abandon that, and rightly so.
      Unfortunately no one bothered to use or lobby for a safe alternative to animal testing. Had that been done, we may actually now have safe legal highs. The answer will be when the drug safety authorities like the FDA accept non-animal toxicity testing, That will be the game changer!!!

    • @KiwikimNZ
      @KiwikimNZ Před rokem +2

      That was the thing, once BZP was banned that’s when bath salts came in. BZP was fine so long as you didn’t exceed the dose, same as alcohol is fine so long as you did go to excess! It was a really social drug, it gave joy energy and you became very social and felt really connected to those around you. I took it for years anc never once had a bad experience on it or heard of anyone have a reaction or bad experience. Sure a few ended up in ED but the had either taken more than the recommended dose or mused it with too much alcohol or red bull, making their heart rate go trough the roof. It’s sad that it was banned as it was a safer alternative to any other drug put there

    • @KiwikimNZ
      @KiwikimNZ Před rokem +1

      @@Trenclenmen see I didn’t get a home town off it. If you didn’t drink too much and didn’t take higher doses and stay up all night you were fine. But people would stay up all night and get hammered drinking till 4sm on the stuff. So I don’t think it was the drug it was the late nights, dehydration and alcohol that made you feel like death the next day l

  • @meowmiaumiauw
    @meowmiaumiauw Před rokem +273

    I'm a Canadian, and my family immigrated here from New Zealand. I think legalizing recreational cannabis would be the best solution to the problems mentioned here. When you can order 100g of weed for $120, it's really difficult for drug dealers to retain customers while remaining profitable enough to carry on

    • @Jack-bn6rc
      @Jack-bn6rc Před rokem +15

      Quality weed is much more expensive to cultivate properly than $120 / 100G. I'm not sure where you're getting those metrics from or the quality of the yield. The absolute cheapest I've seen good weed go for in the USA was around $2.20/G when buying 450G or more; and that was when weed prices plummeted recently. In Florida, where medical sales are legal but cultivation is not, there's caps on the amount you can buy per month with prices trending around $30-50 for 3.5G. Again, obviously more bulk will be cheaper but your average client is going to pay full retail.

    • @danarcher9012
      @danarcher9012 Před rokem +11

      The legal system works very well in Canada. I can buy blunts in a store in downtown Peace River in legal businesses, rather than in a street situation, where other products are available. Flower products and concentrates have vastly improved in legal shops in Alberta and Saskatchewan since legalisation in October 2018.

    • @RagingMerc
      @RagingMerc Před rokem +2

      @@Jack-bn6rc upper mids for 30 oz some fire for 42 oz 60 for tops where I'm at

    • @libgapper9761
      @libgapper9761 Před rokem

      Piss of you don't know. Weeds nofing now legalizing it won't do a thing. If cartels are interested in nz. Too late. Meth the issue

    • @Pifferfish
      @Pifferfish Před rokem +3

      @@Jack-bn6rc Eastern Canada still has a booming grey market, cheapest I've seen with regularity is $1.71 USD/g on an ounce.

  • @eddywolton6397
    @eddywolton6397 Před rokem +7

    From NZ myself, amongst most of friends and every party I've been to MDMA is really popular, the issue comes when it's not tested and your 'mate' says it is, that's how I ended up doing doing bath salts and getting psychosis for 3 days and not being able to sleep. Never done it since even though I have a test kit, don't think I ever will. If party pills had been legal I would have done those and never had the risk of dodgy gear.

  • @brandondb6190
    @brandondb6190 Před rokem

    BZP was a blast ! I was a Canadian living in Christchurch in the early 2000’s and I was blown away by the “herbal highs” and NOS balloon bars!

  • @yomommashaus
    @yomommashaus Před rokem +22

    There's always going to be a balance between allowing and providing people with the means to do what they want to do and putting restrictions on society for the betterment of all. Thank you Vice for trying to keep us on track!

    • @Eremjustice
      @Eremjustice Před rokem

      ☝️ checkout that handle, he's sure plug 🍄🍫💊🔌💚💚

  • @dreamworldtony
    @dreamworldtony Před rokem +27

    4:58 No way in heck you'll catch me in that room raw dogging the air 🤣

  • @NZBitcoiners
    @NZBitcoiners Před rokem

    Thank you for the video.

  • @Daveyboy_GolfR
    @Daveyboy_GolfR Před rokem +2

    those synthetic cannabinoids like spice or K2 are beyond dangerous.. I have a few acquaintances who have literally lost their mind (long term) smoking something 'harmless' from the head shop, or been rushed to the hospital.

  • @Xavier-uknonada
    @Xavier-uknonada Před rokem +6

    You blow my mind with your great journalism. The ending was like, "yeah!"

  • @calebmagan1866
    @calebmagan1866 Před rokem +87

    Those party pills were so fun, the comedown was horrible but a hangover from drinking too much is just as bad. It makes me sad to hear the cartels think NZ is an important market for them, and it's absolutely right the crime in NZ has increased massively, more shootings and ram raids and general madness ....dammit. we were so close to making a huge change...

    • @trinaburns7845
      @trinaburns7845 Před rokem +2

      That's happening everywhere in the world though not just here

    • @dillathekilla3110
      @dillathekilla3110 Před rokem

      That’s so bullsht about crime on the rise, that’s just on the news. You look at statistics for yourself , and just see it’s only on media. Scaremongering at its finest

    • @Eremjustice
      @Eremjustice Před rokem

      I ate grams of 1000mg edible gets me high my average was 2500mg.🍄🖕💯

    • @OffGridInvestor
      @OffGridInvestor Před 10 měsíci +1

      It's SORT OF geographic. There's LOTS of stuff made by CHINESE in the pacific islands and then smuggled to New Zealand from there. Because of the nature and poverty and difficulty in ENFORCING laws in the MANY pacific islands and because their next land is New Zealand, it's more likely for drugs to be smuggled into New Zealand than other countries. Corrupt police on peanuts wages and the clan like structures in the pacific add greatly to the problem.

  • @user-if5nx9kt4z
    @user-if5nx9kt4z Před měsícem +1

    It's the algorithm that truly has my back dragging this on the feed.

  • @joeroganpodcastdotcom
    @joeroganpodcastdotcom Před rokem +1

    alot of the pre workout supplements for the gym used to have bzp in them in new zealand

  • @gregorcook9087
    @gregorcook9087 Před rokem +143

    I am from Glasgow and spent 6 years in nz. I was there during the synthetic cannabis boom. After it was made illegal it went into the hands of an Asian family who made it themselves. The side effects were unbelievable and terrifying. It was an instant addiction (literally instant). The stories I have around it are insane. I was there when the gangs took it over after the first guy was caught.

    • @aa.4639
      @aa.4639 Před rokem +13

      Omg.. Thank God back in my day we had regular weed, the E was good no problems if you had money you took coke and H if you were broke. Simpler times. Never heard of killer pot. Crazy

    • @jack-he7fv
      @jack-he7fv Před rokem +2

      @@aa.4639 there is all of that in nz

    • @aa.4639
      @aa.4639 Před rokem +3

      @@jack-he7fv I feel sorry for the next generations. This crap is crazy.

    • @SmokensStockMarketBasket
      @SmokensStockMarketBasket Před rokem +7

      I didn't find it addicting I smoked it once and was disgusted by the taste. Went back to weed.

    • @user.0704
      @user.0704 Před rokem +4

      @@SmokensStockMarketBasket you probably haven't tried this particular spice. There's alot of diffrent legal highs. Some alot worse than others.

  • @TheAlexliam1
    @TheAlexliam1 Před rokem +506

    New Zealander here, this was really difficult to watch. Matt Bowden has caused so much damage. I wish you dug a little bit deeper into what this guy was all about. His arguments and ideas aren’t wrong but his motivation and the outcomes of his products are shown from an extremely bias angle here.

    • @Dranectrakon
      @Dranectrakon Před rokem +56

      Could you explain further? Sincerely curious

    • @rdizzy1
      @rdizzy1 Před rokem +11

      His motivation is irrelevant, and for the outcomes, all that matters is better than what the current outcomes are. Even if they are only 10% better.

    • @gutz323
      @gutz323 Před rokem

      There was BZP deaths in the UK when they was legal and bought from head shops, so they are not as safe as people make them out to be.

    • @dubsteppro777
      @dubsteppro777 Před rokem +83

      @@rdizzy1 "his motivation is irrelevant" False, his motivation is very relevant. The amount of companies that have caused great harm because people had that mindset is innumerable. Take the Tabacco industry, or the oil industry, how about big pharma which is entirely to blame for the opaeoid epidemic in the US. All of these developed because "their motivations were irrelevant"

    • @the_local_bigamist
      @the_local_bigamist Před rokem +47

      I'd like to know more about this. I didn't like the whole "entrepreneurial" aspect and his talk of venture capitalists. Remember: cartels in their various forms are just businesses, and the model behind the illegal drug trade functions along lines of capitalism, from manufacture/production, export, wholesale, retail etc. Drug addiction is a public health issue and should be dealt with by socialised medical care. Recreational drug use should be treated in a similar way to how one of the most popular recreational drugs on the planet is treated: that of alcohol.
      But the huge profits, as well as the illegality, contribute to the immense violence associated with the drug trade at every level. Yet those $billions end up in banks all over the world, from the Cayman Islands, to London's Square Mile. We need a better model, which isn't based on violence and exploitation (i.e. capitalism).
      In other words, I'd like to know more about this guy as I'll bet that he was a seedy character and we should not be looking to drug entrepreneurs - no matter how groovy they may seem - to help us figure out how to end this ridiculous "war on drugs".

  • @MultiFirebrand
    @MultiFirebrand Před rokem +10

    New Zealander here.
    Those drugs weren't as safe as you're making out here. I had a lot of friends get really badly addicted to the synthetic weed they put out, some people even died. That stuff is lethal and they were selling it in corner stores to kids.

  • @dandread34
    @dandread34 Před rokem +1

    What a sad story, so close to taking the inteligent approach, then back to the never ending cycle of fighting an unwinnable war.

  • @Gizawar
    @Gizawar Před rokem +13

    It reminds me of how a few years ago shops in Poland used to sell drugs for teens using unregulated substances. When law started to change then they started to sell them as collectables. They were known as "Dopalacze"

  • @jeremyb7955
    @jeremyb7955 Před rokem +110

    "starboy" is responsible for a lot of misery in this country , and the most insulting thing is he called it harm REDUCTION ffs........ and to be honest calling him a musician is being INCREDIBLY generous .

    • @Quantum973
      @Quantum973 Před rokem +12

      Can you elaborate? I'd never heard of him before this video. I thought some of his points were well made

    • @bgva4349
      @bgva4349 Před rokem +9

      hes jus like any of cook or chemist cookin for profit...its about the key word profit....i was guilty myself of justifying what i was doin as sayin its a safe and pure alternative and cheap but i was jus lying to myself and everyone else....now i grow herb and caretake for ppl and can sleep at night knowing im fully doing no harm but neways i full heartily agree i learned about starboy along while ago and thought he was a con man then and still do...and yea his music if u wanna call it that is ridiculous....stay blessed my dude...

    • @jeremyb7955
      @jeremyb7955 Před rokem +6

      @@Quantum973 trust me it doesn't take.much digging to find some pretty unscrupulous behavior in this man's history

    • @Quantum973
      @Quantum973 Před rokem

      @@jeremyb7955 is it because of the synthetic cannabanoids that make him so unpopular? I'm trying to do my homework. Thanks :)

    • @bgva4349
      @bgva4349 Před rokem

      @@Quantum973 youll find more if you search Matt Bowden New Zealand...

  • @spoof420_
    @spoof420_ Před 11 měsíci +1

    im from nz and my granddad was friends with a big drug lord named Mr asia / terry clark they were from nz and transported a lot of drugs here crazy to see how much the drug scene has changed from back then and its way too easy for kids to get them. We need to get it under control

  • @vejet
    @vejet Před rokem

    9:03 Look at that rotation! Look at that spin rate! Hands down a 10 out of 10! 😤👏

  • @Xavierpng
    @Xavierpng Před rokem +100

    If we legalized weed in new zealand I think that would be a huge step towards solving a few problems, we can use the taxes on the education and health sectors.

    • @xavierkeane5857
      @xavierkeane5857 Před rokem +8

      Maybe legalising ecstasy and lsd

    • @jaygee3032
      @jaygee3032 Před rokem +3

      You'd regret it the first bag you buy
      Like 2/3s tax on top of the bag itself

    • @slick_wit_it
      @slick_wit_it Před rokem

      It's legal but only for medicinal purposes, like in my case.

    • @nuthin2lose688
      @nuthin2lose688 Před rokem +1

      The War on Drugs is a lot to do with the security industry complex.

    • @TheDunningKrugerEffectisReal
      @TheDunningKrugerEffectisReal Před rokem

      Cocaine and meth in its purest quality, taxed at a decent rate so no one flocks back to the black market, and rehab centers free of charge to whoever wants to quit, believe me addiction rates won't be nearly as high as they are now.

  • @gtabro1337
    @gtabro1337 Před rokem +3

    I kinda respect these people that know they are not in the most honest work, but still choose to at least shed some light on the shadiest of aspects of that kind of job.
    In an ironic way they have better morals than a lot of politicians...

  • @abesodessyrobinson1022
    @abesodessyrobinson1022 Před rokem +2

    Im in nz and took a bunch of bzp back in the day..ive taken e and done shroons and acid on occasion years ago but the worst comedown by far of any drug id taken was bzp.it caused depression for days.but while you were on them it was great.but what stopped me was definately the after effects.ill never forget how bad it was

  • @markthenicholson
    @markthenicholson Před rokem

    Great reporting, Vice.

  • @BigRick50
    @BigRick50 Před rokem +61

    You'd think someone at big pharma, Johnson & Johnson etc., would have had this idea by now. All they need to do is create a number of safe recreational products, test them and then use their influence to change the laws.

    • @elusiveeyewear8655
      @elusiveeyewear8655 Před rokem +11

      they're conservatives asf

    • @famousbowl9926
      @famousbowl9926 Před rokem +6

      @@elusiveeyewear8655 yup lol

    • @Izzy-qf1do
      @Izzy-qf1do Před rokem +8

      @@elusiveeyewear8655 with erection problems. Why you think they invented Viagra. 🤣

    • @aesyamazeli8804
      @aesyamazeli8804 Před rokem +3

      Nah all drugs will lead to ruin sooner or later, and JnJ are smart enough not to waste money to sell something to people who will eventually be broke due to addiction. Something safe like weed or tobacco is better because it will hook you until the end of your life unlike these other drugs.

    • @YellowPenetrator
      @YellowPenetrator Před rokem +4

      @@aesyamazeli8804 i think your oppinion is biased by the media, all drugs can be used responsibly, only responsible use never makes it in the news

  • @SnippyJupiter
    @SnippyJupiter Před rokem +135

    As an addict I get so tired of people pushing blame directly off on the other people for the choices they make to continue and or start using substances. Other people can be factors but at the end of the day your choices are your own and you are the one to blame. If you started taking these things by choice not if somebody else drugs you.

    • @kaattiiex
      @kaattiiex Před rokem +24

      Yep! When you mention personal responsibility people are shocked

    • @CNYKnifeNut
      @CNYKnifeNut Před rokem +7

      I'm also an addict.
      The "OMG addicts blame everyone but themselves" thing exists far more in agenda driven media than I've ever seen it in reality.

    • @Johnsonsvideos
      @Johnsonsvideos Před rokem +20

      I'm a postal worker but not stupid enough to speak on behalf of all other postal workers. Everyone's journey to addiction is different. Some with trauma, some party, some social acceptance. Acting high and mighty on this isn't really going to solve anything

    • @bingonamo7520
      @bingonamo7520 Před rokem +2

      I agree (if you are over 18, as you are an adult then and have more appropriate thought processes). Everyone knows how addictive P is. They know if they take it just once there's a chance they'll be instantly addicted. And people knew that about heroin too, back in the day when that was a more common drug.

    • @EvenForFun
      @EvenForFun Před 10 měsíci +2

      Exactly, it was my own fault i gave up and started taking. Clean for 2 years now.

  • @Tupunaforever
    @Tupunaforever Před rokem

    that was great, thankyou.

  • @Thelliam666
    @Thelliam666 Před rokem +17

    I enjoyed the bzp/tfmpp pills. Legit hallucinated on them. More than once. Music was a whole different level. The pills were balanced with other minerals your body needed / would use while high. You would kind of get used to a certain kind but there were so many to try you would just shift brands. RIP.

  • @nicci337
    @nicci337 Před rokem +185

    I used to take BZP, it was mostly a way of self medicating for adhd before I was diagnosed the legal high phenomena was terrible I lived near a shop that was selling them and you would have people queueing at 5am in full blown psychosis, people would get very aggressive and it was a really bad situation we would get clusters of people dying after consuming bad batches regularly they were a mix of chemicals from china and you never knew what you were going to get. Store owners made an obscene amount of money not carrying that they were hurting people and our community

    • @nicci337
      @nicci337 Před rokem +4

      @jess Louise not bzps legal highs

    • @user-bk3kv8sl9z
      @user-bk3kv8sl9z Před rokem +8

      Saying drugs or drug dealers kill people is like saying guns or gun dealers kill people.

    • @janenewtonoydu3915
      @janenewtonoydu3915 Před rokem

      @jess Louise 中国产的混合毒品被店主倒卖,然后博主好像出现健康问题

    • @Jack-bn6rc
      @Jack-bn6rc Před rokem

      @@user-bk3kv8sl9z Not necessarily the same thing, guns are mainly manufactured for self defense purposes. Intentionally selling heroin with fentanyl or intentionally adding fentanyl into heroin is definitely someone killing someone . If a gun dealer knew you were planning to kill someone and still sold you the gun they would be implicit. You know selling the heroin someone is going to shoot it up, implicit.

    • @blessedhomings4213
      @blessedhomings4213 Před rokem

      Cuz now a days ppl don't care about hurting other they want it they get it das how it is it's their choice to pick what type of substance they wanna take and buy nb forces yu to take anything they chose they buy whatever consequences comes wit it it ain't the dealers fault there just suppliers and the ones that are lookin to get paid only for the paycheck

  • @jeremiasrobinson
    @jeremiasrobinson Před rokem +212

    One of the scarier experiences of my life was when I was picked up by a tweaker while hitchhiking in NZ.

    • @savannahm1223
      @savannahm1223 Před rokem +27

      Ummmm story time!!

    • @matthewostrowski9667
      @matthewostrowski9667 Před rokem +8

      @I Post Cringe wisconsin and Michigan tweakers are no joke

    • @aus-li
      @aus-li Před rokem

      @@matthewostrowski9667 Are they very aggressive?

    • @jeremiasrobinson
      @jeremiasrobinson Před rokem +98

      @@savannahm1223 The guy picked my partner at the time and I up in Wellington and once we were in his car, we were kind of at his mercy. He showed a very large bag of meth that he said he manufactured himself and offered us some. We declined. So, then he showed us that he had a gun under the seat. He took us completely off of the route we were taking, chased a cop at some point (she looked more scared than we were), and told us how his friend was dying at the hospital, but he would still bring him tweak. After a couple of hours of that at some point he got tired and needed to smoke more tweak and we just ditched as soon as the car wasn't moving anymore.

    • @stanmarsh4203
      @stanmarsh4203 Před rokem +2

      What was that like

  • @mosswarne972
    @mosswarne972 Před 11 dny +1

    As someone from New Zealand I didn’t actually realise how big the drug problem was here

  • @mattdrake2065
    @mattdrake2065 Před rokem +7

    I remember the old BZP party pills circa 2004-2006. Still to this day the strongest most intense high of anything (legal or otherwise) I’ve ever experienced.
    Also BY FAR the worst comedown I’ve ever had…. Especially when you mixed it with alcohol & weed.

    • @makhnovite
      @makhnovite Před 10 měsíci +1

      Yeah the comedown/hangover was horrific - there's no way BZP is less dangerous or harmful to your health than MDMA that's just ridiculous. And as others have said Bowden was just a self-interested capitalist, he never gave two shits about public health which is why he focused on introducing dangerous synthetic drugs into the market instead of lobbying for drug war reform, better funding for addiction and mental health services, harm reduction policies like drug testing and injection sites, etc.
      This was honestly a pretty bad and inaccurate documentary on other levels too. That criminologist they interview clearly doesn't know wtf she's talking about.
      Prescription opioids common in the NZ drug market? Besides tramadol being reasonably common NZ barely has an opiate scene at all. Psychedelics like LSD and shrooms are far more popular than opioids.
      If I were to guess I'd say that the most commonly used/abused illegal drugs in this country are:
      1. Marijuana
      2. Methamphetamine
      3. MDMA
      4. LSD
      5. Magic Mushrooms
      In that order, although it'll vary depending across different parts of society, with meth use being far more prevalent among working class communities compared to the upper crust (despite what that dealer claims, most professionals look down on meth as a dirty, poor persons drug, even if they'll happily snort up lines of cocaine or drop molly on the weekends).

    • @Jay-wf9ig
      @Jay-wf9ig Před 5 měsíci

      @@makhnovite idk about everything else youve said but i know matt bowden personally and he is very not capatilist, he goes on quite a lot about how capatilism sucks lol, it seems to me he didnt want to put a bandaid on the problem (drug testing sites, addiction funding etc) and wanted to try and fix it from the root which is changing the actual drugs we all take

  • @Phanatic89
    @Phanatic89 Před rokem +44

    Kiwi here, I remember party pills when I was about 17/18. They never really hurt anybody. I did see people move on to meth later, and it's sad to think they might not have done that if party pills were legal.

    • @Michael-lg4wz
      @Michael-lg4wz Před rokem

      yeah the worst I remember was people having a big night with alcohol too, and not sleeping til lunchtime the next day(Dunedin)

    • @jesuschrist9597
      @jesuschrist9597 Před rokem

      @@Michael-lg4wz dunedin is your answer haha

    • @bremCZ
      @bremCZ Před rokem

      Your memory is fairly poor if you think the party pills never hurt anyone. I was 25 and living with 2 nurses in Christchurch at the height, and they dealt with hospitalisations because of party pills every Fri, Sat and Sun.

    • @makhnovite
      @makhnovite Před 10 měsíci

      I know someone who ground down all their teeth and had to spend thousands of dollars on caps after taking BZP at 17.

  • @lsd-xm3760
    @lsd-xm3760 Před rokem +33

    Let’s keep going w the cannabis legalisation effort everyone !

    • @ChinnyRusso
      @ChinnyRusso Před rokem

      Aw bollocks lad that shite fucks your head up too

    • @Kaiyats
      @Kaiyats Před rokem

      Until we change the government that won’t happen

  • @dmbfannh
    @dmbfannh Před 3 měsíci

    I could watch Jamie all day he is so easy on the eyes that dude!!

  • @ziggycarcrash9912
    @ziggycarcrash9912 Před rokem

    This glam rock legend is saying what weve all been thinking bout drugs

  • @zenxi6
    @zenxi6 Před rokem +16

    Good to see Matt's perspective out there still. I was involved with the novel psychoactive market in Australia before governments 'cracked down' (see: continued the failed policy of prohibition) back in the early 2010's and Matt and the Kiwi's perspective had a big influence on me, as someone who was actively lobbying the government and working with industry toward a regulated future. I still dream of that and really glad to see Matt's face and advocacy still out there.

    • @smellex1231
      @smellex1231 Před rokem +5

      Lol really?! Do you actually know his story tho he's a slimey creep

    • @zenxi6
      @zenxi6 Před rokem

      @@smellex1231 I've only known Matt mostly from afar, so I don't know of that.

    • @Eremjustice
      @Eremjustice Před rokem

      👆👋🍄💊🔌💚🍃

  • @daudaros2959
    @daudaros2959 Před rokem +20

    You know that it‘s an American documentary when they say that New Zealand is most famous for Lord of the Rings

  • @cbt_man
    @cbt_man Před rokem

    As a new zealander, thanks for covering this

  • @soundtravels4348
    @soundtravels4348 Před rokem +7

    I remember taking BZP.
    This breaks my heart ❤️ we were so close to changing the world with our drug policy. What a massive missed opportunity.

  • @EpicBongZilla
    @EpicBongZilla Před rokem +2

    I remember this stuff. Back when I was like 20. I used to order BZP off the internet and have it sent to my apartment in the US regularly. It was mad cheap and felt similar to ecstasy. So easy to get to.

  • @spaea2062
    @spaea2062 Před rokem +9

    New Zealander here, I remember the party pill era. We used it as teenagers when we couldn't get proper eckies on some weekends back in 2006. Dark Angel party pill was a favorite of ours in East Auckland.

    • @dillondurry4428
      @dillondurry4428 Před rokem

      Did they actually get you high like mdma or anything or just say really buzzed like coke ?

    • @jesskcanada
      @jesskcanada Před rokem

      what are eckies?

    • @lewismx8815
      @lewismx8815 Před rokem +3

      @@jesskcanada ecstacy/MDMA

    • @FutureReferenceNZ
      @FutureReferenceNZ Před rokem +4

      @@dillondurry4428 They absolutely got you high.

    • @ethancassidy8446
      @ethancassidy8446 Před rokem +2

      Dark angels !!!! We're defintly my go to haha. Good old days

  • @ColetteNicoll
    @ColetteNicoll Před rokem +12

    A friend and I had reason to visit NewZealand in 2006,& saw the legal scene Matt Bowden had spawned. You could literally decide the kind of buzz you wanted, & if you had a bad reaction - you could easily find 1 type of pill you could buy- that would deactivate whatever you'd bought,over the counter. Meanwhile - the war on drugs in Australia meant that people were overdosing, then overheating -rather than run the gauntlet of cops & sniffer dogs - outside of day long summer dance festivals

  • @fionnagrant6636
    @fionnagrant6636 Před rokem +1

    There were a bunch of people getting unwell on BZP. Emergency Departments were full of them.

  • @Stevenbr17
    @Stevenbr17 Před rokem +6

    Hamilton: ‘just doing my usual’
    Hazmat suit: ‘he is gonna feel this one’ *continuously stirs chemicals

  • @SephBane
    @SephBane Před rokem +16

    The outcry comes from the drugs being safer to cause a marginal increase in use as risk adverse people who wanted to get high now can. I think this is inevitable, but more than off set my the ease of getting off drugs when they are less addictive and legal to seek help with. The problem is the first stage comes first and the politicians are too weak to see the plans through.

    • @Eremjustice
      @Eremjustice Před rokem

      ☝️ checkout that handle, he's sure plug 🍄🍫💊🔌💚..

  • @AdamNZ
    @AdamNZ Před rokem +3

    Honestly BZP that was being sold initially was cheap like $1-2 each. They weren't even good either and had a bad hangover. I think we should focus more on dealing with escapism as that's the reasons why we do the drugs in the first place.

  • @stuartblack9258
    @stuartblack9258 Před rokem +1

    Its always going to be a tricky situation and i suppose any government doesn't want to be seen as the one giving a green light to drugs, but that Matt guy had totally the right idea the data over the time he was selling his leagal high speaks for itself! Drugs need regulating properly. You will never stamp out drug use completely and making strict laws against these things just forces it underground where every outcome is even more dangerous

  • @Rkid2456
    @Rkid2456 Před rokem +7

    You’ve got better at this mini documentary thing, 10x better than the first i watched

  • @lucas33253
    @lucas33253 Před rokem

    Love a good ol' Vice documentary on some crazy drug

  • @thebeyonderN.H
    @thebeyonderN.H Před rokem +2

    Og K2 black, krptonite those were some killers

  • @leeboriack8054
    @leeboriack8054 Před rokem +22

    Star Boy is way over confident about his drugs having no record of overdose or physical harm.

    • @smolgok384
      @smolgok384 Před rokem +7

      Fully disingenuous. It fucked people right up and the level of addiction was nothing like I've seen before.
      BZP wasn't a problem, which is what they mentioned mostly on here. Synthetic cannabinoids were a huge problem and caused a lot of harm.

    • @riggatonii
      @riggatonii Před rokem +1

      @@smolgok384 why would they go through the efforts of making synthetic canabinoids when the plant is a WEED it grows in almost every environment, its all got to do with money. i live in canada and oz's went from 200-300 for AAAA grade to 100$ 2/3 of the price cut in half by legalizing it. its very easy to produce, unlike the synthetics they charge you substantially higher its a game of monopoly at the end of the day .

  • @kurtman8954
    @kurtman8954 Před rokem +24

    Great video, as a life long resident of New Zealand growing up through this, this is very factual

    • @saritalil9116
      @saritalil9116 Před rokem

      A kiwi

    • @kezzadogga1727
      @kezzadogga1727 Před rokem

      @@keastymatthew2407 or the moriori were moari

    • @kurtman8954
      @kurtman8954 Před rokem

      @@keastymatthew2407 what are you even complaining about g? I looked at your recent comments and you must have a boring life just talking crap on CZcams 😂

    • @SagginNiggaGdUp
      @SagginNiggaGdUp Před rokem

      @@keastymatthew2407 lmfaoo what you on cuh

  • @notyetskeletal4809
    @notyetskeletal4809 Před rokem +1

    There was antidepressants in Pineapple Express in prerolled spliffs. Not safe and regulated there! I bought one for somebody and they went mental after smoking a centermeter off the end of one. Took us an hour an a half to walk to the hospital but when we were waiting there I saw the tsunami in Japan on the T.V. I realised the poor dude was feeling a bit better and that there were people with much bigger problems and we left.

  • @jamessherer8087
    @jamessherer8087 Před rokem

    So true, proud new Zealander!

  • @syn513
    @syn513 Před rokem +26

    4:57 the chemist is wearing mask mixing these “dangerous” chemicals but the vice reporter isn’t, interesting.

    • @virtual-adam
      @virtual-adam Před rokem +20

      All day every day vs 10 mins.

    • @JohnSanford139
      @JohnSanford139 Před rokem +18

      That’s Hamilton Morris I think he can take it

    • @danh9503
      @danh9503 Před rokem +9

      Hamilton is a legend in the drugs community 🙌 The research and knowledge in his documentaries are amazing so he can handle the chem labs for a few mins...trust us lol.

    • @leopardtree2249
      @leopardtree2249 Před rokem

      @@danh9503 bro you get high just by touching it😂

    • @anthonygato407
      @anthonygato407 Před rokem

      real men dont need no mask.

  • @thaliakate444
    @thaliakate444 Před rokem +73

    BZP (cattle wormer) is/was gross though. A dirty grinding high that makes you feel like you’re stripped of all vitality on the comedown. It also makes your stomach growl as if it were stretching/tearing. I don’t know anyone who misses the BZP days. From memory Genesis was the first legal high Matt Bowden sold?
    After living abroad for 7 years, I’ve often wondered why NZ has such a poor quality of life, such high suicide rates and pervasive meth use…? There’s comparative safety, student loans, freedom to innovate, but most don’t make use of it. Many of the most successful people I know in NZ are not from NZ.
    I suspect colonialism in the last 200 years is a factor. A fairly recent collective trauma. In addition, the early immigrants were probably people (Irish, English, Scottish, Chinese) who were desperate lower class people with a poor quality of life in their country of origin. Why would an early settler come here if they had a good life elsewhere?
    In more modern times, education is undervalued by many leading to poor prospects. The welfare state potentially demotivates people? The smaller towns are boring with next to no opportunities, and even the bigger cities (in my view) are under stimulating after a few weeks.
    Many people work repetitive jobs (factory work, farming, service work) for low wages. Meth makes a boring monotonous life seem lively. Drugs are a poor person’s holiday, because a real holiday is unaffordable.
    Lastly, trauma and the lack of adequate mental health support is an issue. Waitlists are long and most people can only get 4 therapy sessions a year. To get support people need to be causing harm to themselves, or others, or their close kin need to die. At that point, rock bottom, people might get some help?
    Personally, I prefer to live in Australia, or Europe where the weather is better, people earn more and have a better quality of life etc
    All that being said, New Zealand is beautiful in parts, but it’s a slow pace of life. It’s suitable in some locations for middle class and above people who enjoy hiking, boating, fishing, BBQs, snow sports etc If that’s your idea of a good time, you’ll like N.Z and could create a good life here. If you’re driven, it’s easy to succeed, because competition is minimal.

    • @brobinson8614
      @brobinson8614 Před rokem +1

      I remember finding my step daughter in a street doorway freaking out on the 'cow wormer'. She said it was the worst drug she ever took!

    • @unelectedbureaucrat2003
      @unelectedbureaucrat2003 Před rokem +10

      You're talking bollocks

    • @brobinson8614
      @brobinson8614 Před rokem

      @@unelectedbureaucrat2003 Actually you are

    • @MR-yc5dg
      @MR-yc5dg Před rokem +5

      One of the most accurate things Ive ever read about NZ, very well said!

    • @monstrance2022
      @monstrance2022 Před rokem +4

      You have no idea because you just left. People are amazing here and there's underground fun obviously didn't include you sorry

  • @hippocraticly6167
    @hippocraticly6167 Před rokem

    I remember when bzp was banned in australia. it saved a friend of mine from meth addiction. Was shattered when it was gone

  • @user-th5rs6mw3p
    @user-th5rs6mw3p Před 7 měsíci

    Born and raised in rural nz and yeah meth and weed are absolutely everywhere here, personally never seen coke or many of the common opioids. And yes gangs are going crazy.

  • @187mrsmith
    @187mrsmith Před rokem +31

    Damn i didn't think new Zealand gets down like this!
    I guess the saying every hoods the same is true!

    • @werbeplakat4318
      @werbeplakat4318 Před rokem +3

      I dont understand Why they make that documentation about new zealand. Most of the research Chemicals get produced in china and Sold in netherlands. They make it Sound like a new zealand thing but it's not

    • @ivareskesner2019
      @ivareskesner2019 Před rokem

      @i can't find a name All those foxes and possums eating her crop...or whatever little weed-predatory animals are down those parts. Little nug eating pigs or whatever.

    • @BillyT886
      @BillyT886 Před rokem +8

      @@werbeplakat4318
      Did you watch the documentary?????? If you did, it would explain everything you just asked

    • @helsindemisquisfolson1461
      @helsindemisquisfolson1461 Před rokem

      You finally got it? Stay out the streets it's not meant for you

    • @tangimeme
      @tangimeme Před rokem

      @@werbeplakat4318 wild how you managed to completely miss the main storyline lol.

  • @deivittt
    @deivittt Před rokem +7

    Quality control and regulation to avoid deaths 👏🏼

  • @shanetonkin2850
    @shanetonkin2850 Před rokem +3

    BZP was horrific, I don’t know anybody who would have taken it as a “substitute for meth” , that claim is just total bullshit. People took it as a substitute for MDMA which at the time was fairly difficult and expensive to get in New Zealand. And that’s exactly what it was - a poormans ecstasy. If you took enough of them, if felt pretty good at the time, but good Lord would you regret it the next day, especially if you also had been drinking alcohol (which most people usually did). The come down and hangover was like nothing I’ve ever experienced.. so bad it would make you swear off them for good... that is until about a year later when you thought to yourself ‘it can’t have been THAT bad, let’s give it another go..’
    Rinse & repeat.
    Also Matt Bowden can talk up the positives all he likes, but the reality was that BZP normalised the idea of taking a pill on a night out in a country where that had not been commonplace before, so when BZP was banned people just moved on to actual ecstasy pills instead, and the MDMA market exploded and hasn’t looked back since.

  • @brewsyyg
    @brewsyyg Před rokem +1

    The Party Pills were great back in the day .

  • @squadwipesyt3639
    @squadwipesyt3639 Před rokem +53

    Same thing happened in Florida with bath salts. I love how people just magically forgot about bath salt zombies

    • @itzmunroo6661
      @itzmunroo6661 Před rokem +3

      Its not that these things have become forgotten its more that these drugs have been tweaked so slightly in molecules that they are now entirely different drugs under a different name, example of this being “bath salts” in the UK changed 4/5 times before a ban was put across for majority of the chemical compontents used to create these synthetic drugs. Bath salts is still alive and well its probably just called shower spice or some daft crap now 😂

    • @squadwipesyt3639
      @squadwipesyt3639 Před rokem +1

      @@itzmunroo6661 did you even read my comment? Like I said, the exact same thing happened with bath salts. What exactly ate you adding to my comment that wasn't already stated?

    • @-SidneyPrescott
      @-SidneyPrescott Před rokem

      that was K2 no?

    • @squadwipesyt3639
      @squadwipesyt3639 Před rokem

      @@-SidneyPrescott no. K2 was fake weed known as spice.

    • @Theinhen
      @Theinhen Před rokem +3

      Spice or K2 are Noids family, (synthetic cannabinoids) AND-BUTINACA, 4F-MDMB-2201 are the most known, but the chemical structure changes every 6 months or so lol
      What you guys are talking about Bath salts, are synthetic cathinones. Like Alpha-PVP, 4-CL-PVP or Euthylone but likewise this will have become maybe 5-CL-PVP in 6months 😆
      the effects aren't that clean but they aren't as unpredictable as in early 2010 with the "zombies bath salt"
      The problem which lies here is that these drugs aren't tested at all before being on the legal market lol
      It can happens sometimes that the effects are way more intense than its cousins chemical.
      Happens aswell with Fentanyl,
      Same thing, carfentanyl is 2x more potential than Fentanyl
      Butylfentanyl 1.5 x more potent than Fentanyl, or 150 more than Morphine...
      Guessing game, users are literally guinea pigs

  • @allinoneintellect1945
    @allinoneintellect1945 Před rokem +5

    I love this show.it takes long to produce but it is good

  • @pollyrg97
    @pollyrg97 Před rokem +5

    Probation Officer in small town New Zealand. I can confirm that when I do the WHO alcohol and drug questionnaire and get to 'have you used cocaine?' people who have used most other substances will say something along the lines of "no, you can't get that here". Or "no. Can you get it here?!" Meanwhile meth is everywhere.

    • @b8IIin
      @b8IIin Před rokem +1

      Yeah, I can't imagine Charlie being very accessible outside the bigger cities due to scarity and price, where as P is just so much easier to produce and flood rural NZ with.

    • @makhnovite
      @makhnovite Před 10 měsíci

      Its more common these days just poor quality and outrageously expensive. Trafficking gangs like the Comancheros from Aus have supposedly been moving into the market after realising the huge profits involved compared to Australia.

  • @calumhughes2778
    @calumhughes2778 Před rokem

    Great video, from NZ, have nothing to add just algorithming

    • @visitmyco_cross1onig813
      @visitmyco_cross1onig813 Před rokem +1

      👆👆check my name description. he sells shrooms, LSD, DMT and chocolate bars. He ships discreetly too

  • @fiffals8736
    @fiffals8736 Před rokem +14

    Wow, as a kiwi this was fascinating, I’m of the younger generation so I had no idea this happened and I feel something like what there use to be would be super benefititial to so many communities

    • @HemiKortene420
      @HemiKortene420 Před rokem

      Bro got it right, it was a wild time, but before that it was just alcohol, and it was somuchfuckingworse.
      #gethighordietrying

    • @threefoureight3208
      @threefoureight3208 Před rokem +2

      fellow young kiwi. this doco is very plastic. but still not the worst.

    • @HemiKortene420
      @HemiKortene420 Před rokem

      @@threefoureight3208 My names James as well and I am also from New Zealand.... Feels good don't it?

    • @threefoureight3208
      @threefoureight3208 Před rokem +1

      @@HemiKortene420 looks like hemi to me mate.

    • @threefoureight3208
      @threefoureight3208 Před rokem

      my names not even james. bahahaha

  • @MichaelDavis-zf6nt
    @MichaelDavis-zf6nt Před rokem +3

    You know, New Zealand, the movie set.

  • @huepix
    @huepix Před rokem

    Always good to have an English person telling others how they live.
    NZ had a massive heroin culture in the early 70s when people could literally walk off container ships, thru the port and into the country.
    Ever heard of Mr Asia?

  • @georgerevell5643
    @georgerevell5643 Před rokem

    I love that ending "I'd like to congratulate drugs, on winning the war on drugs" I hope there's a party to celebrate the victory!

  • @timmcneill5299
    @timmcneill5299 Před rokem +30

    I grew up in NZ and was pretty unaware of all this happening at a younger age. But now living overseas and going back to visit, its very clear how much worse drug use has made the country to live in. Mental health and gang violence is so bad now, and it is corroding the value of living there. The country needs some kind of drastic intervention on drugs with a long term social and economic positive effect.

    • @thedappercook
      @thedappercook Před rokem +2

      That's not true New Zealand wide. Its merely pockets. Look at Auckland and the housing market! People are doing just fine I assure you of that. I agree with the Mental health aspect but Kiwis have always struggled with that, that's not new. Gangs, yes Hastings and other similar areas, not in larger cities like Auckland, they're fringe crowds.

    • @DanB1987
      @DanB1987 Před rokem +3

      Depends where you are here and what you compare it too.. Where I live it's safe as, I can take a stroll at 1am with no worries at all.. I think we have had 2 murders in the last 20 years..

    • @rachelcookie321
      @rachelcookie321 Před rokem +6

      I think mental health here sucks regardless of drugs. I know a bunch of people, myself included, who struggle with mental health and don’t use drugs.

    • @Sk0die
      @Sk0die Před rokem +6

      ​@@thedappercook nah dude the housing market only effects the upper class, the rest of us get completely fucked. The gang violence is also very scary atm, there have been so many shootings and a few of the houses that burnt down have been mere streets away from where I live. The CDB is getting worse too, so many homeless and more by the day. Most are addicts with severe issues that need help.

    • @thedappercook
      @thedappercook Před rokem

      @@Sk0die which city do you live in and which suburb?

  • @czarnyksiezycrogaty
    @czarnyksiezycrogaty Před rokem +12

    BZP and rest of piperazines were shitty in effects, with huge bodyload, vomiting, overheating etc
    Great alternative for mdma and speed lol

    • @nicci337
      @nicci337 Před rokem +2

      like drinking wayy to much coffee is how I remember it

  • @jgpatterson38
    @jgpatterson38 Před měsícem

    As a teen in NZ in early 2000s and a regular user of bzp and all its sister drugs it was definitely a step to meth addiction once it was banned

  • @frenchp5435
    @frenchp5435 Před rokem +1

    3:33 side effects may include acute psychosis, renal toxicity and seizures, but at least there were no _lasting_ injuries, right?