Washington: Experts at the Recreational Drugs European Network have identified a wide range of new so called “legal highs” that have been manufactured to mimic illegal drugs, The Telegraph has said. The chemicals, which are often made in China and India before being sold over the internet, are appearing faster in the illegal Europe markets. Researchers who have been analysing the new substances have found highly potent hallucinogens and stimulants among the new drugs.
As little is known about how these drugs work or their effects on the human body and brain, the scientists warn they can be dangerous and easy to overdose with.The report says that new psychoactive substances, not controlled under drug laws, synthetic cathinones such as mephedrone, pentedrone and MDPV (3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone) have become a fixture on the illicit drug market in some European countries. Cathinones are used in similar ways to, and often interchangeably with, other stimulants such as amphetamine and MDMA.
Most often they are available as powders or tablets. Production of cathinones appears to take place primarily in China and India. The drugs are then imported into Europe, where they are packaged and marketed as ‘legal highs’ or sold in the illicit market. The scientists leading the project have also found that many of the new substances contain high impurities that pose a risk to the health of those who take them.
