Various NPS have significantly changed the picture of drug use in different countries. They are now very prominent in the drug market. Indeed, many of these substances are intended to circumvent drug laws and are sold as ‘legal’ replacements for cannabis, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, MDMA and benzodiazepines.

To increase their availability and attractiveness, they are marketed as “legal highs”, “research chemicals”, and “food supplements”. However the reality is that NPS are highly linked to physical and mental health harms, including fatal poisoning and the spread of drug-related infections.

The webinars highlight this emerging issue in many societies. Experienced professionals will provide updates on the types of NPS being used, their mechanisms of action, modes of use, intended intoxicant effects, associated physical and mental health harms, and will give recommendations on their management and prevention related responses.

Webinar 3: New Psychoactive Substances (NPS): Black market and policy of new psychoactive substances in the Asia region

The final webinar covers the availability of various synthetic substances in the regional Asian market, the major trends of some countries and emerging concerns of the recent years. We will discuss how countries regulate their policy in response to these new drug market developments and consider what new innovative legal responses governments can introduce.

Presentations:

'Use of darknet and cryptocurrencies for online drug trade'
Oleksiy Feshchenko, PhD, Adviser (Darknet & Cryptocurrencies), Cybercrime and Anti-Money Laundering Section Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Branch Division for Treaty Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Himal Ojha

'Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analysis, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme'
Martin Raithelhuber, PhD, Illicity Synthetic Drugs Expert at United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

'New Psychoactive Drug Trends in Kazakhstan: Results of the Epidemiologic Global Fund Project'
Maria Prilutskaya, PhD, Psychotherapist, Narcologist and a reader at Semey Medical University

This Webinar was recorded on July 6th 2022.

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