EMCDDA Publishes Its First Report on Health Responses to New Psychoactive Substances

Over the last decade, there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of new drugs appearing on the global market. In Europe, around two new psychoactive substances (NPS) are detected every week, posing a major challenge to drug policy and practice. In its latest report, released today ahead of International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking (26 June), the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) presents its first analysis of the health responses to these drugs, often sold as ‘legal highs’ (1).

The report — Health responses to new psychoactive substances (2) — explains that, while NPS use in Europe remains relatively low (3), there are growing concerns over problematic forms of use and harms related to these drugs. It presents recent evidence of the association of NPS with hospital emergencies and rising demand for specialist drug treatment and describes how, in some countries, new stimulant substances are driving changes in drug injection patterns. The study reviews, for the first time, health- and drug-related responses to these drugs now emerging in Europe.

EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel says: ‘The NPS market is complex and the rapid emergence of novel products means that developing supportive health interventions is challenging. Initial responses to new drugs in Europe have largely been regulatory, focusing on legislative tools to tackle supply. But as the phenomenon evolves, it is critical that we formulate and implement effective public health responses to the use of these substances. The significant number of annual detections of these drugs, and associated harms, calls for the continuous assessment and development of appropriate services for users at risk’.

In 2015 alone, 98 new substances were detected for the first time via the EU Early Warning System on NPS, bringing the total number of new drugs monitored by the EMCDDA to 560.

Read the full article on the EMCDDA website here.

Notes

(1) The EMCDDA will mark this international day with an event on its premises on 27 June for the Lisbon diplomatic community and its partners from the Portuguese authorities.

(2) The 30-page report is available at www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/ad-hoc/nps-responses. It is accompanied by the latest edition in the Perspectives on Drugs (POD) series, dedicated to the same topic.

(3) A 2014 European Commission Flash Eurobarometer survey showed that some 8% of young people aged 15–24 reported having taken ‘legal highs’ in their lifetime, while 3% reported use in the last year http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_401_en.pdf