Naslov
Synthetic drugs - a public health problem

Autori
Jurišić, Irena ; Gabud Gjurčević, Senka ; Cvitković, Ante

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, stručni

Izvornik
One Health Symposium / - Slavonski Brod, 2014, 11-11

Skup
One Health Symposium

Mjesto i datum
Slavonski Brod, Hrvatska, 05.06.2014. - 07.06.2014

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Synthetic drugs

Sažetak
Synthetic drugs, designer drugs or „legal highs“, is the group of novel substances and have been abused as recreational drugs. These drugs are chemically laced substances similar to marijuana, cocaine or methamphetamin and sold all over the world by Internet sales and some convenience stores like Smart shops, tobaco shops, gas stations, etc. Based on their chemical structure they are commonly divided into two groups: cannabinoids and cathinones. The goals of this paper are to represent the size of this problem and severity of its physical and behavioural toxicities. This paper shows review of papers, websites and our expeiriences on synthetic drugs. Literature shows increasingly expanding array of synthetic drugs available, bringing the total number of new substances identified in 2012 to 158, compared to only 6 in 2009. The contents and effects are unpredictable due to constantly changing variety of chemicals used in manufacturing processes devoid of quality controls and government regulatory oversight. Similar to the effects of marijuana, cocaine and amphethamines, use of designer drugs is associated with agitation, anxiety, vomiting, tachycardia, extreme paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, violent behaviour, suicidal and other harmful thoughts and actions. One of the reasons why synthetic drugs are extremely dangerous is that buyers don't know what chemicals they are ingesting. Young people can buy these drugs on the Internet or in smart shops and we can't stop them because it's legal. On the packaging of these substances producers emphasize that products are not intended for human consumption, but they know that products will be smoked or inhaled as drugs. Governments all over the world must accelerate legal procedures to ban generic substances, and put policies and legislation in place to combat this threat. Also, state and local authorities must intensify educations especially of young people about harmful effects of these substances.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

POVEZANOST RADA