distribution BZP is a piperazine derivative which comes as either the hydrochloride salt or a free base. The hydrochloride salt is a white solid while the base form is a slightly yellowish-green liquid. BZP base is corrosive and causes burns. BZP is often marketed ostensibly as a "dietary supplement" to avoid meeting stricter laws that apply to medicines and drugs, despite the fact that BZP has no dietary value. As of late 2005, the Misuse of Drugs Act ensured it can no longer be classified or marketed as a dietary supplement in New Zealand. Some retailers claim that BZP is a "natural" product, describing it as a "pepper extract" or "herbal high," when in fact the drug is entirely synthetic, and has not been found to occur naturally. Pharmacodynamics BZP has been shown to have a mixed mechanism of action, acting on the serotonergic and dopaminergic receptor systems in a similar fashion to MDMA. BZP has amphetamine-like actions on the serotonin reuptake transporter, which increase serotonin concentrations in the extracellular fluids surrounding the cell and thereby increasing activation of the surrounding serotonin receptors. BZP has a lower potency effect on the noradrenaline reuptake transporter and the dopamine reuptake transporter. BZP has a high affinity action at the alpha2-adrenoreceptor, it is an antagonist at the receptor, like yohimbine, which inhibits negative feedback, causing an increase in released noradrenaline. Another study lists 1-Benzylpiperazine (BZP)'s Release DAT, NET, and SERT EC50s (i.e. a measure of potency for the release of neurotransmitters via BZP's affinity for the dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin transporters respectively--whereby those transporter are induced to shuttle neurotransmitters out of neurons and deposit them in the synaptic gap) as 175, 62, and 6050; for comparison, the values listed for d-amphetamine (25, 7, and 1765) and d-methamphetamine (25, 12, and 736) show a similar DAT:NET affinity ratio as well as minor SERT activity which suggests BZP possesses similar activity to the two aforementioned drugs (when dosed ~7x higher due to lower potency) rather than serotonergic substituted amphetamines like MDMA. BZP also acts as a non-selective serotonin receptor agonist on a wide variety of serotonin receptors. Binding to 5HT2A receptors may explain its mild hallucinogenic effects at high doses, while partial agonist or antagonist effects at the 5HT2B receptors may explain some of BZPs peripheral side effects, as this receptor is expressed very densely in the gut, and binding to 5HT3 receptors may explain