Designer drug
A designer drug is a
The development of designer drugs may be considered a subfield of
In some jurisdictions, drugs that are highly similar in structure to a prohibited drug are illegal to trade regardless of that drug's legal status (or indeed whether or not the structurally similar analogue has similar pharmacological effects). In other jurisdictions, their trade is a legal grey area, making them grey market goods. Some jurisdictions may have analogue laws which ban drugs similar in chemical structure to other prohibited drugs, while some designer drugs may be prohibited irrespective of the legal status of structurally similar drugs; in both cases, their trade may take place on the black market.
History
The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (May 2010) |
United States
1920s–1930s
Following the passage of the second
1960s–1970s
During the 1960s and 1970s, a number of new synthetic hallucinogens were introduced, with a notable example being the sale of highly potent tablets of
1980s–early 1990s
The modern use of the term designer drug was coined in the 1980s to refer to various synthetic
Because the government was powerless to prosecute people for these drugs until after they had been marketed successfully, laws were passed to give the
, became the first drug that had been emergency-scheduled to be denied permanent scheduling and revert to legal status.The late 1980s and early 1990s also saw the re-emergence of
Late 1990s–2004
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there was a huge explosion in designer drugs being sold over the internet.
In 2004, the US Drug Enforcement Administration raided and shut down several Internet-based research chemical vendors in an operation called Web Tryp. With help from the authorities in India and China, two chemical manufacturers were also closed. Many other internet-based vendors promptly stopped doing business, even though their products were still legal throughout much of the world.
Most substances that were sold as "research chemicals" in this period of time are hallucinogens and bear a chemical resemblance to drugs such as
The majority of chemical suppliers sold research chemicals in bulk form as powder, not as pills, as selling in pill form would invalidate the claims that they were being sold for non-consumptive research. Active dosages vary widely from substance to substance, ranging from micrograms to hundreds of milligrams, but while it is critical for the end user to weigh doses with a precision scale, instead of guessing ("eyeballing"), many users did not do this and this led to many emergency room visits and several deaths, which were a prominent factor leading to the emergency scheduling of several substances and eventually Operation Web Tryp. Some compounds such as
The late 1990s and early 2000s also saw the first widespread use of novel anabolic steroids by athletes in competition. Steroids had been banned by the International Olympic Committee since 1976, but due to the large number of different anabolic agents available for human and veterinary use, the ability of laboratories to test for all available drugs had always lagged behind the ability of athletes to find new compounds to use. The introduction of increasingly formalised testing procedures, especially with the creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 1999, made it much more difficult for athletes to get away with using these drugs without detection, which then led to the synthesis of novel and potent anabolic steroid drugs such as tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), which were not detectable by the standard tests.[18]
2005–2021
While through recent history most designer drugs had been either opioids, hallucinogens, or anabolic steroids, the range of possible compounds is limited only by the scientific and patent literature, and recent years have been characterised by a broadening of the range of compounds sold as designer drugs. These have included a wide variety of designer stimulants such as
"...what is new is the wide range of substances now being explored, the aggressive marketing of products that have been intentionally mislabelled, the growing use of the internet, and the speed at which the market reacts to control measures."
Mephedrone and the
Subsequently, the market rapidly expanded, with more and more substances being detected every year. In 2009, the EMCDDA's early warning system discovered 24 new drugs. In 2010, it found another 41; in 2011, another 49; and in 2012, there were 73 more.
2022–present
In the early 2020s, the perceived (though unsubstantiated) safety and legal difficulty of regulating peptides spurred the growth of grey-market synthetic peptide hormone vendors.[29] The peptide drugs sold on these websites are largely non-recreational and sold for their purported anti-aging, performance enhancing, and cosmetic benefits.[30] Some such vendors employ medical professionals and take clear precautions to ensure the legal ambiguity of their operations.[31] While more legally controversial research chemicals continued to be developed and sold online, the growth of peptide 'research chemical' vendors in the early 2020s widened the accessibility and reach of the research chemical market substantially.[citation needed]
Safety
The safety of research chemicals is untested and little if any research has been done on the
Law
This section needs to be updated.(May 2016) |
Due to the recent development of many designer drugs, laws banning or regulating their use have not been developed yet, and in recent cases novel drugs have appeared directly in response to legislative action, to replace a similar compound that had recently been banned.[33] Many of the chemicals fall under the various drug analogue legislations in certain countries, but most countries have no general analogue act or equivalent legislation and so novel compounds may fall outside of the law after only minor structural modifications.
In the United States, the
Other countries have dealt with the issue differently. In some, the new drugs are banned as they become a concern, as in Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. In Sweden, the police and customs may also seize drugs that are not on the list of drugs covered by the anti-drug laws if the police suspect that the purpose of the holding is related to drug abuse. Following a decision by a prosecutor, the police may destroy the seized drugs.[34]
In Ireland, the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010 bans substances based on their psychoactive effect, and was introduced as a catch-all to address the time lag between new substances appearing and their being banned individually.[35] In the United Kingdom, the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 adopts a similar approach.
Some countries, such as Australia, have enacted generic bans but based on chemical structure rather than psychoactive effect: if a chemical fits a set of rules regarding substitutions and alterations of an already-banned drug, then it too is banned.[36][37] Brazil adopted the same model as Australia, in a recent ruling from ANVISA, which is responsible to define what constitute drugs.[38]
Temporary class drug
A temporary class drug is a relatively new status for
Common names
In the UK to avoid being controlled by the Medicines Act, designer drugs such as mephedrone have been described as "plant food", despite the compounds having no history of being used for these purposes.[39][40][41]
In the US, similar descriptions ("
Synthetic cannabinoids are known under a variety of names including K2, Spice, Black Mamba, Bombay Blue, Genie, Zohai,[45] Banana Cream Nuke, Krypton, and Lava Red.[46] They are often called "synthetic marijuana," "herbal incense," or "herbal smoking blends" and often labeled "not for human consumption."[45]
List
See also
- Controlled Substances Act
- Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement of 1986
- Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
- New chemical entity
- Operation Web Tryp
- Federal Analogue Act
- Pharmaceutical company
- Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 – New Zealand
- Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 – UK ban on all drugs based on psychoactive effect
- Research chemical
References
- PMID 21083227.
- ^ "New Psychoactive Substances (NPS)". Drug War Facts. Common Sense for Drug Policy. 8 July 2021.
The term 'new psychoactive substances' had been legally defined by the European Union as a new narcotic or psychotropic drug, in pure form or in a preparation, that is not scheduled under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 or the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, but which may pose a public health threat comparable to that posed by substances listed in those conventions (Council of the European Union decision 2005/387/JHA).
- PMID 22191595.
- ^ S2CID 5108266.
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- ^ "Esters of Morphine". UNODC Bulletin on Narcotics (2): 36–38. 1953.
- ^ Brecher EM (1972). The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs. Consumer Reports Magazine.
- S2CID 24065654.
- ^ Cooper DA (March 1988). Future Synthetic Drugs of Abuse. Proceedings of the international symposium on the forensic aspects of controlled substances. McLean, Virginia: Drug Enforcement Administration. p. 79.
- .
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- ^ "TheDEA.org: The History of MDMA". Archived from the original on 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ISBN 978-0-8147-4244-0.
- PMID 12632938.
- S2CID 35546712.
- PMID 18827471.
- S2CID 220574624.
- PMID 17207601.
- PMID 18178354.
- ^ "Spice enthält chemischen Wirkstoff" [Spice contains chemical agent]. Badishce Zietung (in German). December 2008.
- S2CID 43121906.
- ^ "EU struggles to curb hard drugs". BBC News. 5 November 2009.
- ^ "2009 Annual report: the state of the drugs problem in Europe" (PDF). Lisbon: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-16. Retrieved 2009-11-05.
- .(subscription required)
- ^ Power M (2014-10-31). "Drugs unlimited: how I created my very own legal high". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
- EMCDDA. July 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
- ^ European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) (2021). "Synthetic cannabinoids in Europe – a review" (PDF). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
- ^ Gilbertson, Annie; Keegan, Jon (2020-09-17). "Labeled "Research" Chemicals, Doping Drugs Sold Openly on Amazon.com – The Markup". themarkup.org. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
- ISSN 2211-2669.
- ^ "Uncovering the peptide 'grey market' sweeping Australia". www.9news.com.au. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
- PMID 19091499.
- PMID 19589652.
- ^ Nu beslagtar svenska tullen lagliga droger, Sveriges Radio, 23 April 2011
- ^ "Ireland passes new law to control 'head shops' and 'legal highs'". European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
- ^ "Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 - Schedule 1".
- ^ Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 s 314.1(2)
- ^ "Combate a drogas ilícitas sintéticas fica mais fácil" [Combating synthetic illicit drugs just got easier]. Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA) (in Portuguese). Brazilian Government.
- ^ "Consideration of the cathinones" (PDF). Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. 31 March 2010. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
- ^ "Police warning over 'bubble' drug". BBC News. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
- ^ Reed J (13 January 2010). "Clubbers are 'turning to new legal high mephedrone'". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ Cumbow V (2011-02-06). "Synthetic form of cocaine and methamphetamine being packaged as bath salts". The Huntsville Times. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
- ^ "Reports: Miami 'zombie' attacker may have been using 'bath salts'". CNN. May 29, 2012. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ Goodnough A, Zezima K (2011-07-16). "An Alarming New Stimulant, Legal in Many States". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
- ^ a b "K2 Trend Not Slowing Down". WebMD. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
- PMID 22007163.
External links
- Substances and classifications table (31/10/2008) – European Legal Database on Drugs Archived 2021-02-25 at the Wayback Machine Report on all substances controlled in at least one EU country in XLS format
- Designer Drug Compound List Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine at Chemograph Plus, DigiLab Software GmbH
- "Fentanyl landscape | PiHKAL · info". isomerdesign.com.