Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne said his government has issued something called a Temporary Class Drug Notice, giving traders one month to remove DMAA-containing products from their shelves.
The UK and Canada have already taken action, declaring the disputed compound an unauthorised medicine and other countries like France, Germany and Italy are amid investigations.
The New Zealand decision has been primarily motivated by recreational misuse of DMAA, with adverse events including a brain haemorrhage being reported in recent years.
The Temporary Class Drug Notice is a new authorisation that functions under the Misuse of Drugs Act that was enacted in 2011.
“DMAA is the first substance other than a synthetic cannabinoid to be banned using the temporary notices, and I think this decision demonstrates the wider use of Temporary Class Drug Notices to protect the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders,” Dunne said in local press reports.
“It is not just about party pills and synthetic cannabis.”
DMAA is typically used as a pre-work out supplement and weight loss aid but scrutiny has been rising around whether it is synthetically manufactured or derived from the geranium plant; along with links to adverse events including the deaths of two military servicemen.
DMAA is typically used as a pre-work out supplement and weight loss aid but scrutiny has been rising around whether it is synthetically manufactured or derived from the geranium plant; along with links to adverse events including the deaths of two military servicemen.
In the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has told several companies they must stop selling products like Jack3D, OxyElite, Hemo Rage Black and Dexaprine that contain DMAA (also commonly labelled as methylhexaneamine).