VIENNA, Austria – October 2017: The 2017 Global Synthetic Drugs Assessment provides an analysis of the global synthetic drugs market in two parts. The first part consists of regional overviews that highlight context-specific dynamics relating to the demand and supply of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS) and New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in Africa, Central and Southwest Asia, East and South-East Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Near and Middle East, North and Central America, and South Central America. The second part of this report presents a global thematic analysis of the key trends and emerging developments of the synthetic drugs market.

For more information, please see:

UNODC report - “2017 Global Synthetic Drugs Assessment”
https://www.unodc.org/documents/scientific/Global_Drugs_Assessment_2017.pdf

VIENNA, Austria – 18 October 2017: The decision of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) during its 60th Session from 13 to 17 March 2017 to add 4-Methylethcathinone (4-MEC), Ethylone, Pentedrone (α-Methylaminovalerophenone), Ethylphenidate (EPH), Methiopropamine (MPA), MDMB-CHMICA, 5F-APINACA (5F-AKB-48) and XLR-11 to Schedule II of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 has entered into force.

Previously, on 22 April 2017, the decision adopted by the CND during its 60th Session to add U-47700 and Butyrfentanyl to Schedule I of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 entered into force.

For further information please see:

Detailed information on the thirty-eighth meeting, substance evaluation and previous committees of the WHO ECDD – www.who.int/medicines/access/controlled-substances/ecdd/en/

EWA news clip on Commission on Narcotic Drugs decision on international control of U-47700 and Butyrfentanyl enters into force - www.unodc.org/LSS/Announcement/Details/ad6cb51c-fb9f-40fa-ac36-caec490dd501

CANBERRA, Australia – September 2017: Findings of the 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey conducted among almost 24,000 people across Australia, show a significant increase in the lifetime use of synthetic cannabinoids for people aged 14 years or older, rising from 1.3 per cent in 2013 to 2.8 per cent in 2016, whereas recent use (use in the last 12 months) dropped substantially from 1.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent.

Figure 1. Lifetime and recent use of synthetic cannabinoids and other NPS, people aged 14 or older, 2013 and 2016 (%)

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016, 2017.

For more information, please see:

Website of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare “National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016: detailed findings”
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/illicit-use-of-drugs/ndshs-2016-detailed/data

Report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on the “National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016”
https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/15db8c15-7062-4cde-bfa4-3c2079f30af3/21028.pdf.aspx?inline=true

BRUSSELS, Belgium – October 2017: Effective as of 30 September 2018, the Council of the European Union (EU) placed acryloylfentanyl (acrylfentanyl) under control across the European Union. From this date onwards, Member States will have one year to include acryloylfentanyl (acrylfentanyl) to their list of substances under national control.

For more information, please see:

European Union Council implementing decision of 25 September 2017
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32017D1774&qid=1506673462588&from=EN

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) news release “Acryloylfentanyl to be placed under control across the EU”
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/attachments/5520/News_releaseEN_acryloylfentanyl_webFinal_approved2.pdf_en

UNODC Global SMART Update Volume 17 “Fentanyl and its analogues - 50 years on”
http://www.unodc.org/documents/scientific/Global_SMART_Update_17_web.pdf

GEORGIA, United States – 2017: In June 2017, the Georgia Poison Center detected and triggered a comprehensive response to overdose events involving the new fentanyl analogue cyclopropyl fentanyl. In response to a hospital report of patients with alarming respiratory and central nervous system symptoms, the Georgia Poison Center reviewed poison cases, called hospitals and spoke to Government experts, finding out that there had been other reports of similar cases within the State. Georgia Poison Center then notified the Georgia Department of Public Heath (GDPH), the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) crime laboratory, the Department of Justice, the Attorney General’s office, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and other state and local officials to inform them of this new threat.

As criminal investigations and laboratory tests were underway, the State Health Commissioner’s office disseminated an alert to every hospital in Georgia. Laboratory analysis of the tablets used in these drug overdose cases in Georgia revealed that they contained two fentanyl analogues: U-47700 and cyclopropyl fentanyl.

For more information, please see:

Article on the “June 2017 Deadly Novel Synthetic Opioid Exposure Outbreak in Georgia – A Case Study in the Crucial Surveillance Role of Regional Poison Control Centers”
http://www.georgiapoisoncenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/June-2017-Deadly-Novel-Synthetic-Opioid-Exposure-Outbreak-in-Georgia_FIN....pdf

Statement of the United States Department of Public Health on “Opioid overdose in Georgia”
https://www.gafp.org/opiod-overdose-georgia/

HANOI, Viet Nam – September 2017: Key trends on New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and emerging information on synthetic drugs were discussed on 29th-30th August at the 9th Regional SMART Workshop for East and South-East Asia in Viet Nam. In recent years, more NPS have been identified by a growing number of countries in East and South-East Asia. Moreover, methamphetamine seizures show an upward trend in the region. Another troubling aspect is that synthetic drug tablets have been found to contain a diverse range of substances. This potentially exposes users of synthetic drugs to additional serious health risks because they are often unaware of the content and the dosage of the psychoactive substances contained in such tablets.

For more information, please see:

UNODC press release on “Synthetic drugs from Asia are fuelling global public health and crime concerns”
http://www.unodc.org/southeastasiaandpacific/en/vietnam/2017/08/smart-regional-workshop/story.html

UNODC report on “The Challenge of Synthetic Drugs in East and South-East Asia”
http://www.apaic.org/images/SMART-PDF/2017_The_Challenge_of_Synthetic_Drugs_in_East_and_SEA.pdf

UNODC “World Drug Report 2017”
http://www.unodc.org/wdr2017/field/Booklet_4_ATSNPS.pdf

VIENNA, Austria – September 2017: The Global SMART Update (Volume 18, September 2017) “Non-medical use of benzodiazepines: a growing threat to public health?” focusses on the concomitant use of benzodiazepines and opioids which has been linked to a number of deaths that occurred in the recent opioid crisis. While both, opioids and benzodiazepines, are widely used to treat various medical conditions, their concomitant, non-medical use poses severe health risks. This situation has been further exacerbated by the ready availability of counterfeited benzodiazepines and the increasing emergence of “designer benzodiazepines”, a common street name for new psychoactive substances (NPS) belonging to the benzodiazepine class.