New psychoactive

substances - NPS

Club drugs, ‘legal highs’

synthetics: what are they?

New psychoactive substances –

‘club drugs’ (Abdulrahmin et al, 2015)

• This group of drugs includes synthetic chemicals constructed from a

range of ingredients.

• They may be depressants, stimulants or hallucinogens, depending on

their composition.

• There are no ‘set rules’ for these substances known as ‘legal highs’ or

NPS.

• They are problematic because they could contain any number of

harmful ingredients with no standardisation.

• People do not know what they are taking.

New psychoactive substances

include:

• Depressants

• GHB & GBL, ketamine, nitrous oxide.

• Stimulants

– Synthetic cocaine, amphetamine-type substances (ATS),

mephedrone, ecstasy/MDMA derivatives.

• Hallucinogens

– Derivatives of LSD, magic mushrooms, mescaline.

• Other

– Synthetic cannabinoids.

Depressants

Depressants include:

• GHB & GBL – ‘liquid ecstasy’

Sedative effects, sometimes known as the ‘date rape’ drug.

Usually a liquid in a phial.

• Ketamine – ‘special K’, ‘K’

– An anaesthetic, has a dissociative effect. A powder.

• Nitrous oxide - laughing gas

– Anaesthetic with euphoric effects. Small gas cylinder.

Stimulants

• Synthetic cocaine & piperazines – BZP

– Similar action to amphetamines

• Amphetamine-type substances

– Most commonly used drug worldwide after cannabis. Aid concentration and ward off fatigue.

• Methamphetamine – Ice, crystal meth, china white

– Club drug. World wide use, but limited in UK. Heavy use causes brain damage. Class A drug.

• Mephedrone – meow-meow, M-Cat, (Bath salts in US).

– Derived from the plant khat. Used as ‘legal’ alternative to cocaine. Now banned substance and declining use.

• Ecstasy & derivatives (i.e. MDMA, MDA, benzofuran, PMA, PMMA)

– ‘Club drug’ for recreational, dance use. Derivatives spawned from MDMA to create ‘legal’ versions of ecstasy

Hallucinogens

These substances distort perception and usually classed as hallucinogens or ‘psychedelic’

• LSD and derivatives

– ‘Acid’, tabs, blotter – in tab form, compounds derived from LSD ingredients.

• Psilocybin

– Magic mushrooms/liberty caps and cultivated species.

• Phenethylamines

– Mescaline, N-Bombs, DOM, etc.

Now view the video from Dr Oliver

Sutcliffe, Senior Lecturer in

pharmaceutical and analytical

chemistry at Manchester

Metropolitan University.

Here he describes the harms

associated with, and types of, New

Psychoactive Substances (NPS).

Reference

Abdulrahim D & Bowden-Jones O, on behalf of the NEPTUNE Expert Group. Guidance

on the Management of Acute and Chronic Harms of Club Drugs and Novel Psychoactive

Substances. Novel Psychoactive Treatment UK Network (NEPTUNE). London, 2015.