Novel Psychoactive Substances Flashcards
Define novel psychoactive substances Understand why novel psychoactive substances are a problem Know who uses novel psychoactive substances Understand the clinical challenges of novel psychoactive substances Explore how to start to address novel psychoactive substance-related harms
State 4 categories of drugs (by psychoactive effect)
Stimulants, sedatives, hallucinogens, dissociatives
Name at least 2 stimulants
Cocaine, amphetamine, mephedrone, ecstasy
Name at least 2 sedatives
Cannabis, alcohol, heroin, codeine phosphate, nitrous oxide, diazepam
Name 2 hallucinogens
LSD, ecstasy
Name 2 dissociatives
Ketamine, nitrous oxide
What percentage of young people below 25 in the UK have used an illicit drug in the past year?
19.2%
What is mephedrone?
A synthetic stimulant (cathinone) with amphetamine-like effects
State some ‘club drugs’
Ketamine, GHB, MDMA, mephedrone, methamphetamine
State at least 4 different populations who used novel psychoactive substances while they were legal
Long-term heroin users, students and club-goers, gay men, young professionals (lawyers, doctors), psychonauts, prisoners
Why can mobile phone use trigger relapse in ex-novel psychoactive substance addicts?
Unlike traditional drugs, these are mainly sold via social media and on the internet
State at least 2 novel harms of novel psychoactive substances
Ketamine bladder, hallucinogen persisting perception disorder, psychosis
Which drugs cause psychosis?
Synthetic cannabinoids
Describe ketamine bladder
irritation of the inside lining of the bladder, leading to polyuria, dysuria, and haematuria
Describe hallucinogen persisting perception disorder
Users of hallucinogens experiencing ongoing distortions and hallucinations including ‘visual snow’, afterimages, auras, micropsia, macropsia, and brain fog
In what year did the synthesis of novel psychoactive substances peak?
2014
Why are synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs) more dangerous than cannabis?
They are much more potent CB1 receptor agonists, undetectable on standard urine drug testing (so healthcare workers don’t know the dose or even specific drug to treat), and non-specific - targeting multiple receptors beyond CB1.
When was the UK Psychoactive Substances Act introduced?
2016
Give some potential reasons for the downturn in synthesis of novel psychoactive substances
Psychoactive Substances Act stopping the need for new development, loss of interest, coalescing of the market around existing drugs, response of the illicit drug market
How did the illicit drug market respond to the popularity of novel psychoactive substances?
Increasing the purity of cocaine and MDMA
State the 2 main types of novel psychoactive sedatives
Opioid novel psychoactive substances (fentanyl analogues) and benzodiazepine novel psychoactive substances
Name a fentanyl analogue
Carfentanyl
What percentage of traditional drugs and novel psychoactive substances respectively are obtained from the internet?
Traditional: 1%
NPS: 37%
What is the UK system for reporting illicit drug reactions?
RIDR
State at least 2 challenges illustrated by novel psychoactive substances
Dynamic and unpredictable drug market, monitoring is difficult and lags behind trends, building an evidence base takes time, NPS may be outdated as a concept, MDT response
State at least 2 new developments because of novel psychoactive substances
More sophisticated drug monitoring systems, legal and enforcement frameworks, new technology (e.g. gas chromatography techniques for drug testing)
