EU Drug Market: New psychoactive substances — Distribution and supply in Europe

This resource is part of EU Drug Market: New psychoactive substances — In-depth analysis by the EMCDDA and Europol.

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Last update: 27 June 2024

Detailed information by substance category

 Synthetic cathinones

 Synthetic cannabinoids

 Semi-synthetic cannabinoids

 New opioids

 Benzodiazepines

 Ketamine

Background

New psychoactive substances are sold as substances in their own right and they are used to make a range of products sold as ‘legal highs’, ‘research chemicals’ and ‘dietary supplements’.

In other cases, they are mis-sold as or used to adulterate controlled drugs without consumers knowing. This may be a temporary or longer-term response to reduced supply or the increased costs of established drugs. Particularly risky examples of this are when highly potent synthetic opioids enter the supply chain for heroin and other established opioids, or when they are used to make fake tablets of opioid analgesic medicines, such as oxycodone. In both cases, this can cause outbreaks of poisonings.

An additional element of the market is the sale and use of psychoactive medicines not under international control, such as tramadol and pregabalin. These are diverted as medicines from the regulated market or sourced as bulk powders or fake medicines from other countries.

New psychoactive substances are sold openly in brick-and-mortar shops and on the surface web, but also on the darknet and on street-level drug markets.

The broad range of new psychoactive substances and products – combined with the dynamic nature of the market, strong links with the markets for controlled drugs and differences in local drug situations – gives rise to a complex picture across Europe. This is partly reflected in differences in the number of seizures and the quantity and types of new psychoactive substances seized in different countries.

The capacity to detect and report new psychoactive substances also differs across Europe, meaning that there is both under-detection and under-reporting in some areas.

Resilience in the supply of new psychoactive substances comes from continually circumventing new control measures by supplying non-controlled replacements, and from exploiting differences in national drug laws and regulatory approaches. For example, in 2019, Dutch Police noted that 264 kilograms of the cathinone stimulant 3-MMC seized by customs was later released to the owner as it was not a controlled drug.

The globalisation of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry and differences in national drug control measures also allow new psychoactive substances to re-emerge on the market after being absent for a period of time. As the NPS market has expanded globally, Europe has seen a relatively large number of new psychoactive substances that first emerged many years ago disappear from the market to a large extent, only to re-emerge years later, sometimes in industrial quantities. Examples include synthetic cathinones, such as 3-MMC, 3-CMC and alpha-PHiP (see Section Distribution and supply in Europe: synthetic cathinones). This phenomenon is linked to differences in national controls, including between China and India, where control in one country can lead production to switch to another country. In other cases, changes in international controls can also play a role.

The control of some new psychoactive substances at the international level adds an additional layer of complexity. In part, this is because there is significant variation between countries (including producer countries) in the time it takes to implement international controls into national legislation. In some cases, production and supply of a particularly prevalent new psychoactive substance may continue for some time following its international control.

The international control of the potent opioid isotonitazene led to suppliers switching to other members from this family of substances, such as metonitazene and protonitazene. Similarly, the control of the two main benzodiazepines on the market, etizolam and flualprazolam, at international level led to suppliers switching to replacements such as bromazolam.

Number and types of new psychoactive substances on the market

By the end of December 2023, the EMCDDA was monitoring more than 960 new psychoactive substances that had appeared on Europe’s drug market since monitoring began in June 1997 (see Figures Number of new psychoactive substances notified to the EU Early Warning System for the first time, European Union, 2005-2023 and Number of new psychoactive substances notified to the EU Early Warning System for the first time by category, European Union, 2005-2023). This includes 26 substances that were reported for the first time in 2023. These newly notified substances include nine cannabinoids (five synthetic cannabinoids and four semi-synthetic cannabinoids, accounting for 35 % of the substances), seven opioids, three cathinones and a small number of other substances.

The number of new psychoactive substances notified in 2023 is a considerable reduction from the 50 or so substances reported each year between 2016 and 2022. It is also a significant decrease compared with the peak years of 2014 and 2015, when some 100 new psychoactive substances were identified each year.

Overall, the general downward trend in the number of new psychoactive substances notified may reflect sustained efforts to control and otherwise restrict the sale of these substances in Europe. It may also reflect control measures in source countries, such as China, aimed at restricting the production and trade of these substances. However, the reason for the steep decrease in 2023 – a 14-year low – compared with previous years is currently unclear.

Every year since 2015 (barring a dip in 2020, probably related to COVID-19), approximately 400 previously reported new psychoactive substances have been identified on the drug market in Europe (see Figure Numbers and categories of new psychoactive substances detected each year following their first identification, European Union, 2005-2022). This shows that many substances remain in circulation, albeit in varying amounts and mostly in small quantities.

In 2022, for example, only around 40 (10 %) of the 400 substances were seized in quantities greater than five kilograms. In addition, these 40 substances accounted for 80 % of the total number of NPS seizures during the year. However, a substantial proportion of new psychoactive substances are highly potent substances, and small quantities can often be used to make thousands of street doses. For example, around 1 gram of the synthetic cannabinoid 5F-MDMB-PINACA may be sufficient to provide 1000 doses, while 1 gram of the fentanyl derivative carfentanil could provide many thousands of doses.

This general availability can increase the risk of new psychoactive substances being mis-sold as or used to adulterate other drugs, which can cause outbreaks of poisonings. In addition, the potential for substances to re-emerge on the market after periods of absence, adds to the number of substances that require monitoring.

Overview of law enforcement seizures of new psychoactive substances

In 2022, the EMCDDA received reports of just over 26 390 seizures of new psychoactive substances from EU Member States. Information on the weight of the seized substances was provided for just under 18 700 of the seizures, amounting to 30.7 tonnes, most of which was seized in powder form (30.1 tonnes) (see Figure Seizures of new psychoactive substances reported to the EU Early Warning System: total number of seizures and quantity of material seized for all forms reported in weight, European Union, 2005-2022). New psychoactive substances were also found in tablets and capsules (4 893 cases, approximately 580 000 units), papers (892 cases, 8 370 units) and liquids (1 962 cases, 1 472 litres). Some of these liquids were sold as e-liquids for vaping or as nasal sprays. This amounts to record quantities of new psychoactive substances seized in 2022. A small number of large seizures of powders of synthetic cathinones, ketamine and synthetic cannabinoids by customs agencies at the external EU border accounted for 97 % of the quantity seized. Of these, 87 % were cathinones (26.5 tonnes), mainly imported from India to Europe. This included 19.4 tonnes of 3-CMC (63 %), 2.85 tonnes of 3-MMC (9 %) and 1.5 tonnes of 2-MMC (5 %). Arylcyclohexylamines, almost exclusively ketamine, accounted for 2.79 tonnes of the new psychoactive substances seized (9 % of the total). In addition, the synthetic cannabinoid JWH-210 accounted for 467 kilograms (2 %) of the total quantity (see Figure Seizures of new psychoactive substances reported to the EU Early Warning System: total number of seizures and quantity of material seized for all forms reported in weight, European Union, 2005-2022).

The number of NPS seizures and the quantity seized varies between countries in Europe, reflecting differences in the local drug situation (see Figure Seizures of new psychoactive substances reported to the EU Early Warning System by country: numbers of seizures and quantity of material seized for all forms reported in weight, European Union, 2022).

Although a broad range of new psychoactive substances are monitored by the EU Early Warning System, here we focus on several categories of substances that are of specific concern due to important recent changes. These changes include large-scale seizures, recent emergence on the drug market, increases in reported harms and links with problematic use.

Source data

All of the source data used in graphics and data tables may be found in our Data catalogue.

References

Consult the list of references used in this module.