New psychoactive substances

Author: Lasha Giunashvili
Keywords: New psychoactive substances
Annotation:

New psychotropic substances are substances of harmful use, in pure form or in the form of preparations, which are not subject to special control under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, but which may pose a threat to public health" (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC). Most NSAIDs mimic the effects of existing controlled narcotic drugs. They were originally developed as "legal" substitutes for already existing controlled drugs - such as cannabis, heroin, cocaine and MDMA. "Club drugs" are a group of psychoactive substances that are typically used in dancehalls, family parties, music festivals, and sometimes even in a sexual context. The term covers different groups of substances with different effects. Globally: Today, NPS is a large-scale phenomenon. Reports of one or more types of NPS have been reported from all regions of the world. It is worth noting that by the end of 2019, reports of 950 new substances were submitted to UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) by governments, laboratories and partner organizations of various countries. In recent years, at the global level, authorities have identified three times more psychoactive substances compared to psychoactive substances under international control. In Europe: Currently, the EMCDDA controls more than 730 new psychoactive substances.