Seizures of New Psychoactive Substances on the Italian territory during the COVID-19 pandemic

Vincenti, Flaminia; Gregori, Adolfo; Flammini, M; Rosa, Fabiana Di; Salomone, Alberto

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110904

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Synthetic cathinone appeared to be the most common substance. According to the authors, the results are likely to reflect the general demand for stimulants, and many of them are used as substitutes for MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) [32]. Unfortunately, despite unceasing studies on the contents of NPSs, the majority of intoxications are caused by unknown psychoactive substances, as confirmed by our study (over 50% per year, 90.4% in 2017).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

The Scale of Intoxications with New Psychoactive Substances over the Period 2014–2020—Characteristics of the Trends and Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Example of Łódź Province, Poland

Garus-Pakowska

Kolmaga

Gaszyńska

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Legal highs are new psychoactive substances (NPSs) which pose a high risk for human health, and the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has changed peoples’ behaviours, including the demand for NPS. The aim of the study was to assess both the frequency of intoxication with NPS in Łódź province over the period 2014–2020, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on developing this trend. An analysis was carried out of data on intoxications in Łódź province in the years 2014–2020 reported by hospitals. The medical interventions rate (MI) per 100,000 people in the population was calculated. The frequency of intoxications was compared taking sociodemographic variables into account, and the effect of seasonal influence on intoxications was calculated using the Holt–Winter multiplicative seasonal method. In the period considered, there were 7175 acute NPS poisonings in the Łódź province and 25,495 in Poland. The averaged MI rate between 2014–2020 was 9.45 for Poland and 38.53 for the Łódź province, and the lowest value was found during the COVID pandemic in the year 2020 (respectively, 2.1 vs. 16.94). NPS users were mainly young men of 19–24 years old from a big city. Most cases were registered at weekends and in summer months. The majority of intoxications were caused by unidentified psychoactive substances of legal highs (chi2 = 513.98, p < 0.05). The actual number of NPS-related poisonings in the Łódź province in 2020 was lower than the value extrapolated from trend analysis of data between 2014–2019. NPS use in Poland decreased during the pandemic. It should be noted that a decrease in the number of drug-related incidents can have more than one reason, e.g., preventive programs, increased awareness, or changes in the law. This paper advocates that, in addition to monitoring NPS-related intoxications, there is further investigation into the social, cultural, and behavioural determinants of NPS to facilitate targeted prevention programmes and the development of new medical treatments.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

The Scale of Intoxications with New Psychoactive Substances over the Period 2014–2020—Characteristics of the Trends and Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Example of Łódź Province, Poland

Garus-Pakowska

Kolmaga

Gaszyńska

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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“…We have previously found this substance in wastewater samples from The Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, indicating the European propensity for this drug . This has been corroborated by seizure data from Italy, with 3-MMC being the most detected NPS in drug seizures in May–October 2020, while The Netherlands has restricted access to the drug from the autumn of 2021…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 61%

“…40 We have previously found this substance in wastewater samples from The Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, indicating the European propensity for this drug. 23 This has been corroborated by seizure data from Italy, with 3-MMC being the most detected NPS in drug seizures in May−October 2020, 41 while The Netherlands has restricted access to the drug from the autumn of 2021. 42 In the current study, 3-MMC was again particularly evident in the European sites, being found on every day of the sampling week in BE and IT and on 7 of 8 days in ES (Figure 2).…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

A Taste for New Psychoactive Substances: Wastewater Analysis Study of 10 Countries

White

Ghetia

Adiraju

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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New psychoactive substances (NPS) are compounds designed to mimic both licit and illicit drugs, and these substances are being discovered each year through forensic toxicology, drug enforcement agencies, and health authorities. However, there is limited information surrounding their international popularity. In this work, influent wastewater samples (n = 144) were collected from 25 sites in 10 countries: Australia,

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“…Since it was first reported in 2012 in Sweden, it has gained in popularity, particularly since 2020 ( European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction 2022 ). This is reflected in acute poisonings in the Netherlands ( Nugteren-van Lonkhuyzen et al., 2022 ), while it was one of the most common NPS seized in Italy between May and October 2020 ( Vincenti et al., 2021 ), and was also the NPS with the highest mass loads found in a recent national study conducted in Italy ( Salgueiro-González et al., 2022 ). This European prevalence is reflected in Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three years of wastewater surveillance for new psychoactive substances from 16 countries

et al. 2023

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Seizures of New Psychoactive Substances on the Italian territory during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 18 publications

References 22 publications

The Scale of Intoxications with New Psychoactive Substances over the Period 2014–2020—Characteristics of the Trends and Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Example of Łódź Province, Poland

The Scale of Intoxications with New Psychoactive Substances over the Period 2014–2020—Characteristics of the Trends and Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Example of Łódź Province, Poland

A Taste for New Psychoactive Substances: Wastewater Analysis Study of 10 Countries

Three years of wastewater surveillance for new psychoactive substances from 16 countries

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