VIENNA, Austria – February 2021: Countries have explored a wide range of legislative responses to address the specific challenges of a dynamic NPS market with the goal to protect public health. In support of the UNODC Opioid Strategy and the UN Toolkit on Synthetic Drugs, UNODC has released an online database on national legal responses to NPS for public access. The database, which is part of the UNODC Early Warning Advisory on NPS (EWA), covers information on 64 countries and territories. The searchable database lists and describes legal responses to NPS, by country/territory and type of legislation.

The types of legislation contained in the database include analogue control, drug laws/individual listing, early warning mechanisms, generic legislation, consumer regulations, medicine legislation, rapid procedure, specific NPS legislation and temporary bans. The database serves as a reference point on legal responses to NPS for law enforcement officials, policy makers as well as researchers.

Figure: Number of countries and territories reporting types of legislative responses to the UNODC Early Warning Advisory

For more information, please see:

UNODC Early Warning Advisory Legal Responses

UN Toolkit on Synthetic Drugs Legal Module

Global SMART Update 14: Special Segment Legal responses to NPS: Multiple approaches to a multi-faceted problem