New EU legal measures, which entered into force this month, will see three harmful new psychoactive substances (NPS) brought under control across the EU. The substances — all new synthetic cathinones — are: 2-methylmethcathinone (2-MMC), 4-bromomethcathinone (4-BMC) and N-ethylnorpentedrone (NEP). These are now classified as controlled ‘drugs’ under EU law.
The decision to control the substances was introduced by the European Commission last year through a Delegated Directive, amending the existing legal framework designed to bring a stronger and faster response to NPS in Europe (1). The legislation entered into force on 12 January, giving EU Member States six months to introduce the relevant national legislation to control the substances (12 July).
The classification follows risk assessments carried out by the EUDA and its Scientific Committee in May 2025. It represents the final step in the EU’s three-stage legal process for responding to potentially harmful NPS emerging on the market (2).
The risk assessments examined the health and social risks of the substances, their availability and use in Europe, international trafficking and the involvement of organised crime. At the time of these assessments, an increase in availability and poisonings had been reported by Member States through the EU Early Warning System (EWS) on NPS.
The three substances are manufactured, sold and used as 'legal' replacements for controlled stimulants such as MDMA, amphetamine and cocaine. Most cathinone use appears to be recreational and involves snorting or ingesting, but injecting is also reported in high-risk settings.
Synthetic cathinones are stimulant substances chemically related to cathinone, the main psychoactive substance in the khat plant (Catha edulis). Synthetic cathinones represent the second largest group of NPS monitored by the EWS (after cannabinoids). Between 1997 and the end of 2025, of the more than 1 000 NPS notified to the EWS, 181 were synthetic cathinones.
Synthetic cathinones gain ground on Europe's stimulant market
The European Drug Report 2025 reported that synthetic cathinones are gaining ground on Europe's stimulant market. The report highlighted their increased availability, reflected in 'unprecedented imports and seizures'. A total of at least 37 tonnes of synthetic cathinones were reported in 2023 (27 tonnes in 2022 and 4.5 tonnes in 2021), with preliminary data indicating more than 48 tonnes in 2024. Most of this involved a small number of bulk imports from India, primarily through the Netherlands. These synthetic stimulants are also produced in Europe and, in 2023, 53 synthetic cathinone production sites, some of which were large-scale, were dismantled in the EU (29 in 2022), mainly in Poland.
