Vienna , Austria – December 202 3 : Since its establishment in 2013, the UNODC Early Warning Advisory (EWA) on new psychoactive substances ( NPS ) regularly provides scientific information to Member States and the World Health Organization (WHO) for the identification of the most harmful, prevalent, and persistent NPS in support of review processes for national and international control. The WHO has announced the scheduling recommendations on psychoactive substances reviewed at the 4 6 th Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) held from 1 6 - 20 th October 202 3 . In total, six substances were critically reviewed by the ECDD, five of which ( one synthetic opioid , two s timulants , one dissociative and one sedative/hypnotic ) were recommended for scheduling as listed below, while one b enzodiazepine , f lubromazepam , as well as n itrous oxide , a substance with medical and industrial use, were recommended to be kept under surveillance . The C ommittee also recommended that carisoprodol , a substance with medical uses, be subject to a future critical review.
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol (Schedule I) : (+/-)-Camphor
Co nv e n tion on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 (Schedule II) : 3-chloromethcathinone ( 3-CMC )
Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 (Schedule IV):
Butonitazene , a synthetic opioid, was first reported in 2021 and belong s to the structural group of n itazenes . So far, 1 0 countries and territories have reported butonitazene to the UNODC E WA . The s timulants 3-chloromethcathinone and dipentylone are synthetic cathinones, which have been reported since 2015 and 2014 by 41 and 28 countries and territories respectively. The dissociative 2-fluorodeschloroketamine, a substance from the p hencyclidine-type substances group, was first reported in 2016 and has since been reported by 39 countries and territories. The sedative/hypnotic b romazolam , a benzodiazepine, has been reported since 2016 b y 29 countries and territorie s to the UNODC EWA .
Information on the identification of the five substances recommended for international control in forensic drug testing laboratories , is available on the respective substance pages (see link s above) under – Analytical Information.
In addition, almost 400 toxicology cases have been reported to the toxicology portal of the UNODC EWA, in which these NPS have associated with harms including in post-mortem, driving under the influence of drugs and clinical admissions cases. This information was used to support the scientific review of these substances at the 46th Expert Committee on Drug Dependence of the WHO.
For more information, please see:
EWA newsclip: WHO: Six new psychoactive substances under critical review by 46th Expert Committee on Drug Dependence
Forty-sixth Expert Committee on Drug Dependence
46th Expert Committee on Drug Dependence documents
2-Bromo-3' 4'-(Methylenedioxy)Propiophenone ***The Spanish translation of this news item is made possible thanks to a collaboration with OAS/CICAD, a partner of the UNODC EWA.* **