Pharmaco-Toxicological Effects of Novel Psychoactive Substances 2.0

Dear Colleagues,

Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are a broad range of substances not included in the United Nations drug control conventions and in recent years have increasingly been detected by police, hospitals and forensic laboratory networks. To date, more than 1000 NPS belonging to different pharmacological categories have been identified (e.g., synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones, hallucinogenic phenethylamines, synthetic opioids, new benzodiazepines and dissociative anaesthetics), which are usually sold via the internet. NPS detection in the context of seizures and in biological samples is challenging, and the legal status is often a grey zone, posing a real threat to public health due to their unpredictable toxicological effects, including lethal outcomes. Data on the prevalence and toxicity of these drugs and on their pharmacokinetics and pharmaco-toxicological effects are scarce. From a forensic and toxicological point of view, a relevant emerging problem is connected to NPSs’ severe adverse effects, the difficulty to manage acute toxicity and the complex identification of intoxication for both the forensic toxicologist and the medical examiner. Another aspect that has been more recently identified but is of great toxicological and social importance is represented by the possible genotoxic effects of NPS (and/or their metabolites) and the well-known long-term impact on human health.

Dr. Matteo Marti
Dr. Liana Fattore
Dr. Carlo Locatelli
Dr. Monia Lenzi
Guest Editors

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