EU Drug Market: New psychoactive substances — Introduction
This resource is part of EU Drug Market: New psychoactive substances — In-depth analysis by the EMCDDA and Europol.
The term ‘new psychoactive substances’ (NPS) covers a broad range of substances that are not controlled under the United Nations drug conventions, although some may be subject to national controls and regulatory measures (1). They include stimulants, cannabinoids, opioids, benzodiazepines, dissociatives and hallucinogens. Many are intended to mimic the effects of controlled drugs and are traded as ‘legal’ replacements for them. They may pose similar health and social risks to those drugs under international control. As well as new psychoactive substances, this module includes substances that have been recently controlled internationally, for example, synthetic cathinones (such as 4-MMC and 4-CMC), synthetic cannabinoids (such as 4F-MDMB-BINACA), benzodiazepines (such as etizolam), and opioids (such as carfentanil and isotonitazene).
Since 2008, the NPS market has diversified, grown significantly and spread globally. New psychoactive substances are now recognised as a global policy issue and a public health threat.
By the end of 2023, around 1 200 new psychoactive substances had been identified on the global drug markets over the last 15 years (UNODC, 2023). This growth has been driven by globalisation and the internet, and fuelled by the exploitation of loopholes in national drug laws and regulatory approaches. This has allowed new psychoactive substances and their precursors to be manufactured on an industrial scale, mainly in China and India, and sold, transported and supplied relatively freely. The market is highly dynamic and resilient, and is characterised by a high turnover of cheap, available and replaceable substances. New psychoactive substances are also increasingly integrated with the controlled drug market.
The public health risks have also grown during this time, with threats increased by the continual flow of new, potent substances and products, illicit production, easier ways to buy and use the new psychoactive substances, and new, broader groups of users. Risks also stem from the unregulated globalised supply chains, where new psychoactive substances can be mis-sold, adulterated or contaminated with a range of potentially dangerous and sometimes highly toxic substances.
While new psychoactive substances are sold as drugs in their own right, they are also used to make a range of products sold under the guise of being ‘legal highs’, ‘research chemicals’ and ‘dietary supplements’. In other cases, they are mis-sold as or used to adulterate controlled drugs without consumers’ knowledge. This includes using them to make fake medicines. An additional element of the market is the sale and use of psychoactive medicines that are not under international control. New psychoactive substances are sold openly in brick-and-mortar shops and on the surface web, but also on the darknet and on existing street-level drug markets.
New psychoactive substances affect regions, countries and localities in different ways. The specific types of new psychoactive substances that emerge and the threats they pose are shaped by global supply chains and local drug situations, both of which change over time. In some cases, new psychoactive substances are encountered only sporadically; in others, they may become more widespread but temporary; while in some cases they may become more prevalent, persistent and problematic.
Between 2020 and 2022, record quantities of new psychoactive substances were seized in Europe. Large seizures of a few substances, notably cathinone stimulants and ketamine, accounted for most of the quantity seized. At the same time, there are signs that the number of previously unreported new psychoactive substances entering the market may be slowing. While an average of 50 new psychoactive substances were reported for the first time each year between 2016 and 2022, this fell by almost 50 % in 2023, to 26. A similar downward trend has been reported at the global level in 2022. The reason for this apparent decline and its significance for the market is unclear and likely complex.
As new psychoactive substances are not monitored systematically in many parts of the world there is typically limited information about production, trafficking and supply, retail markets, use and harms.
In the European Union, legislation designed to rapidly detect and respond to the health and social risks of new psychoactive substances allows more systematic monitoring by the Member States and the EU Early Warning System on new psychoactive substances. However, the information available on new psychoactive substances is limited in comparison to that available on established controlled drugs (see Box Responding to new psychoactive substances in the EU).
(1) In this module, the term ‘new psychoactive substances’ also includes substances originally monitored by the EMCDDA as new psychoactive substances but that have subsequently been placed under international control. 4-MTA, GHB and 2C-B were initially controlled in 2001 and a total of 78 new psychoactive substances have been controlled since 2015. They include synthetic cathinones (such as 4-MMC, 4-CMC, 3-MMC), synthetic cannabinoids (such as 4F-MDMB-BINACA), benzodiazepines (such as etizolam and flualprazolam), and opioids (such as carfentanil, isotonitazene, metonitazene and protonitazene).
References
Consult the list of references used in this module.