Achieve drug intoxication without violating the law: Europe is experiencing a peak of entrainment by the so-called “smart drags” – “smart” drugs permitted for sale by drugs, which, when the dosage is exceeded, gives the desired narcotic effect.
In different countries they are called differently: psychostimulants, drugs of plant origin, ethnobotanical substances. There is also a talk about a phenomenon – the use, for narcotic purposes, of plant and synthetic substances that are not originally a class of drugs and, accordingly, not banned in the market.
So-called “smart” – or club, or designer – drugs appear on the market with impressive speed … .EU countries assess this phenomenon in different ways. Portugal is the only EU country where “non-narcotic drugs” can be bought completely openly. Our interlocutor in Lisbon has a solid record of using heavy drugs. Today he switched to “smart drugs”. Why?
“It’s much easier to get them. In fact, they can be bought in the open. It’s about new drugs, and they are interesting to try. The police will not do anything to us, they do not have the right to arrest us. And we can use these drugs freely. ”
It is even easier to purchase such drugs through online stores and pharmacies. Which continue to expand the range, despite the authorities’ attempts to close them.
True, not everywhere. In Lisbon, “smart drags” can be bought in a special “smart store.” Its owner believes that since it is not about heavy drugs, the authorities have no right to tell people what and where to buy: “Yes, in some countries this production is banned. It’s about states where the authorities take on too much, interfere too much in the lives of citizens. And they should be left alone, let them make their own choice. Shops like ours exist where it is possible to find a loophole in the law. ”
Portugal decriminalized drugs 10 years ago. It’s about that person. using a drug and, possibly, having a small stock of them, will not go to jail. The spread of drugs is punishable by Portuguese law.
Last year, 49 new stimulants were discovered in the European market. For 6 months of 2012 the list was replenished with another 36. Experts are sounding the alarm: “It’s about substances that have never been tested in humans. We do not know how they can affect the body; we do not know their level of toxicity, safety, we do not know the level of activity of the active substance. Therefore, it is the verification of such market novelties that is our priority, “says Rumen Sedefov of the European Center for Drug Control.
In a number of EU countries, deaths have been documented after the use of non-banned drugs. In London, a clinic of “club drugs” is open. Currently, the EU authorities are preparing a review of the “smart money” market and measures taken on the ground to reduce their consumption. Based on the results of the study, European recommendations will be developed.
In Romania, they did not wait: the local authorities outlawed 40 drugs and substances, until recently not included in the list of banned.
It is not accidental: in this country, the oral use of new drugs, and their introduction through a syringe, is not particularly prevalent. As a result, there was a sharp surge in the incidence of HIV and other blood-borne infections.
Experts say: some drugs from the class of “smart drags” in fact can be much more dangerous, traditional heavy drugs – the same heroin.
The opinion of two doctors:
“A person could live on heroin 10, 15, 20 years. But those who use all these novelties, run the risk of burning in a year ”
“It sounds wildly, but heroin really is better from the point of view of the impact on the body of all these new-fangled injections.”
What is the optimal policy for legal drugs? To act or not to act? Large-scale survey of young Europeans show: only 2% of respondents believe that it is not necessary to combat “smart dragoes”.
15% of respondents spoke for control over the sale and consumption of these drugs – the way it happens in the cigarette and alcohol market.
One-third advocated a complete ban on the open sale of any psychostimulants. However, the majority view is that it is necessary to ban only those substances that threaten the health and safety of the population.
There is no consensus among experts. Romanian observer Valentin Simionov from the anti-drug addiction organization is convinced: “The growth in the popularity of smart dragois was the result of the tightening of nuts with regard to heavy drugs. To get them it became harder, well, people started looking for alternatives …. So, perhaps, the solution is to show flexibility, both with regard to drugs of a new generation, and with regard to heavy drugs. ”
Chemists and pharmacists, for their part, warn that testing and identification of the molecules that make up the “smart drags” are complicated and expensive. Most herbs, for example, have thousands of properties. Combinations of the same plants can give a completely unpredictable effect.
Pharmacist Robert Ankuseanu notes: “You can not in fact withdraw from the sale of salad, bananas, even what are usual for us products. But there are craftsmen who make a drug from the skin of a banana. So the total ban is not a method. ”
The discussions continue. At this stage, the authorities monitor and record all the new items on the market. Deal with them is the task of tomorrow.
