New Psychoactive Substances Lecture PDF

NEW PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES NFNF3512  LECTURE OBJECTIVES AT THE END OF THE LECTURE, STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO DEFINE NPS DESCRIBE THE CLASSIFICATION OF NPS DESCRIBE THE EFFECTS OF NPS ON HUMANS QUESTIONS What are they? How do they work? What do...

NEW PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES NFNF3512  LECTURE OBJECTIVES AT THE END OF THE LECTURE, STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO DEFINE NPS DESCRIBE THE CLASSIFICATION OF NPS DESCRIBE THE EFFECTS OF NPS ON HUMANS QUESTIONS What are they? How do they work? What do they do to humans? unregulated drug alternatives to circumvent the existing law. UNODC definition of NPS- substances of DEFINITION & abuse, either in a pure form or a INTRODUCTI preparation, that are not controlled ON by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, but which may pose a public health threat A new law is now in place which makes any 'psychoactive' substance illegal particularly in the UK DEFINITION & There's not enough known about many INTRODUCTI of these drugs - potency, effects on ON people, or what happens when they're used with other substances or alcohol Some have been linked to poisoning, emergency hospital admissions and, in some cases deaths.  CLASSIFICATI ON BY CHEMICAL STRUCTURE Source: Zapata et al. 2021. Chemical classification of new psychoactive substances (NPS).  CLASSIFICATI ON BY CHEMICAL STRUCTURE Source: Zapata et al. 2021. Chemical classification of new psychoactive substances (NPS).  CLASSIFICATI ON BY EFFECTS Source: UNODC Early Warning Advisory on New Psychoactive Substances,  MAIN EFFECTS The main effects of almost all psychoactive drugs, can be described using four main categories: Stimulants act like amphetamines, cocaine, or ecstasy, in that they can make you feel energised, physically active, fast- thinking, very chatty and euphoric. e.g. methiopropamine, mephedrone, naphyrone  'Downers' or sedatives Act similar to benzodiazepines or GHB in that they can make you feel euphoric, relaxed or sleepy e.g. GBH/GBL, methoxetamine  Psychedelics or hallucinogens Act like LSD, magic mushrooms. They create altered perceptions and can make you hallucinate. They can induce feelings of euphoria, warmth, ‘enlightenment’ and ‘out of body experience’. e.g. NBOMe (N-methoxybenzyl) drugs  Synthetic cannabinoids Act similarly to cannabis. The effects of these are similar to cannabis intoxication: relaxation, altered consciousness, disinhibition, a state of being energised and euphoria. e.g. APINACA, JWH-018  WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF NEW PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES? You can't really be sure of what's in a 'legal high' that you've bought, or been given, or what effect it's likely to have on you or your friends. For many NPS, there has been little or no research into the risks from human consumption. Will have widely different strengths and effects on different people. Data on toxicity cases of NPS are scarce and difficult to identify due to