Ireland’s reputation for sticking to traditional drugs is underlined by the fact that only 4.9% of the respondents to the Global Drug Survey here have taken Novel Psychoactive Substances, AKA ‘Legal Highs’ and ‘Research Chemicals’, over the past 12 months.
The top 3 in terms of embracing new drugs are the US at 13.3%, Holland with 12.8% and Scotland at 10.6%.
Amongst those using NSP here, 83.3% have ingested powder/crystals, 25% tablets/pills, 25% herbal and 16.7% liquids.
A third of these are being sourced on the open internet, and 16.7% on the darknet. The global average is 48.3% and 10.4% respectively.
Most people at 66.7% are seeking an LSD-like high, 50% MDMA-like, 25 % stimulant-like, 16.6% Opioid-like and 8% Benzodiazepine-like.
It’s interesting that in Portugal, which has decriminalised drug use, only 1.4% of respondents have used NPS.
“NPS vary widely in their risk profile, with inconsistent composition and potency often being significant factors in the risks they pose,” we’re told. “Highly potent hallucinogen compounds like NBOMe, and potent amphetamine analogues like 4-Flour- Amphetamine are causing real concern across Europe and Australia where their use has been associated with deaths in recent months. GDS2017 suggests drugs with a psychedelic effect profile (including LSD analogues) are on the increase with these drugs representing over 50% of the NPS drugs being used by the sample. Potent novel opioid drugs like acetyl fentany and carfentanyl have been responsible for scores of deaths in Canada and these are ones to watch in future years.
“Overall there seems to have been a shift away from herbal smoking mixtures with an increase in powders and liquids. The impact of regional variations in drug laws and tolerance for drug use can also be seen in the findings this year. The impact of new drug laws in the UK are hinted at with a slight reduction in recent use among the GDS sample.”