The psychoactive substances act (2016)

“This short report provides an update on new psychoactive substances (nps) in europe for 2014. it highlights recent developments, including the growth of the market over the past few years, as illustrated by seizures by law enforcement and other indicators, as well as the growing number of serious harms that are being reported as a result.”

“UNODC launched the global synthetics monitoring: analyses, reporting and trends (smart) programme in september 2008. the programme seeks to enhance the capacity of member states and authorities in priority regions, to generate, manage, analyse and report synthetic drug information, and to apply this scientific evidence-based knowledge to design the policies and programmes. the global smart programme is being implemented in a gradual phased manner, with east asia being the first focus priority region. operations in latin america started in 2011. this report is the first global situation assessment on new psychoactive substances put forward under the global smart programme and pursuant to commission on narcotic drugs resolution 55/1 on ‘promoting international cooperation in responding to the challenges posed by new psychoactive substances’, which requested the united nations office on drugs and crime to provide an update to its 2011 report entitled ‘synthetic cannabinoids in herbal products’, addressing a wider range of new psychoactive substances, in addition to synthetic cannabinoids, and to take into consideration the creation of a compilation of new psychoactive substances encountered by member states, to serve as an early warning advisory. it constitutes the first step in providing consolidated up to-date analysis, based primarily on the information shared by member states and the international collaborative exercise network of drug analysis laboratories. it is hoped that the information on new psychoactive substances presented in this report will make a practical contribution to addressing the significant threat posed by the manufacture, trafficking and use of these substances throughout the world, and place policymakers in a better position to evaluate the drug situation, and to make informed decisions on intervention and prevention strategies. this report provides an overview of the situation throughout the world. it outlines the emergence of different groups of new psychoactive substances in the regions and highlights several key issues associated with these substances, including reported adverse effects associated with their use, the challenges for the identification of these substances and their subsequent control through legislation. while the information presented points towards increasing efforts by the countries to address the nps problem, it also highlights the need for continued and joint efforts, both at the national as well as regional…”

“New psychoactive substances pose a particular challenge to those formulating drugs policy and related public health responses. this paper outlines some of the main issues arising from their use, with a particular focus on user perspectives. such substances are often (at least initially) produced and distributed for different reasons than controlled drugs. they emerge in users’ repertoires undetected by most monitoring systems and general population drug surveys. while reasons for use by innovators and early adopters are often in the spirit of self-experimentation, such substances may rapidly diffuse to the recreational arena as a result of enthusiastic user propagation where they act as substitutes or complements to controlled drugs. the majority of substances are believed to be sourced, albeit not exclusively, from manufacturers based in china. they are retailed to consumers through the internet and physical shops (such as ‘head’ and ‘smart’ shops), as well as traditional ‘street dealers’ (although data on the significance of this latter route of supply are limited). the data required for risk assessment of the harms such substances may pose, as well as information required for accurate user-derived harm reduction advice, are often limited. moreover, some involved in the commercial supply have deliberately misbranded products, including substituting the active substance, in apparent attempts to circumvent regulatory frameworks. this leaves users susceptible to both health and criminal justice harms. despite various attempts to restrict the supply, they often continue to be available through the illicit market, although it is not yet possible to predict whether they will join other drugs such as mdma and lsd as mainstays of the recreational pharmacopeia. copyright © 2011 john wiley & sons, ltd.”

“Pure psychoactive drugs and direct routes of administration are evolutionarily novel features of our environment. they are inherently pathogenic because they bypass adaptive information processing systems and act directly on ancient brain mechanisms that control emotion and behavior. drugs that induce positive emotions give a false signal of a fitness benefit. this signal hijacks incentive mechanisms of ‘liking’ and ‘wanting,’ and can result in continued use of drugs that no longer bring pleasure. drugs that block negative emotions can impair useful defenses, although there are several reasons why their use is often safe nonetheless. a deeper understanding of the evolutionary origins and functions of the emotions and their neural mechanisms is needed as a basis for decisions about the use of psychoactive drugs.”