PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE TOPIC “NEW PSYSHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES – NEW CHALLENGES“ WAS HELD
| Banja Luka | Thursday, 24/06/2021
On the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Trafficking, the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior today organized a panel discussion in Banja Luka on the topic "New Psychoactive Substances - New Challenges", where representatives of the RS Ministry of the Interior and health institutions exchanged experiences on the prevalence of new psychoactive substances in the Republic of Srpska area.
The aim of the event itself is to improve the capacity for an adequate response focused on suppressing the misuse of new psychoactive substances.
These are substances that are not listed in law-controlled drug lists, which pose a significant challenge to law enforcement authorities, as well as for all other institutions dealing with the prevention and suppression of drug abuse. Since these are toxic substances, the consequences of consumption have numerous negative effects on the body, and their abuse poses a threat to public health.
Participants agreed that the fact that these substances are not on the list of drugs under the control of the law poses an evident problem in the work of the police and prosecutors. Therefore, a recommendation on appealing to the competent authorities has been adopted to speed up proceedings for the decision on updating the list of drugs, which is ongoing, as well as to simplify the mechanism of updating the list, thus enabling law enforcement to act to suppress the spread of new psychoactive substances.
One of the conclusions from the panel discussion is that there is a need to inform the public about the harmfulness of these substances, with an emphasis on youth. The next step is to raise a cooperation between institutions and organizations, which deal with the issue of drug suppression from various aspects, to the next level.
The presence of new psychoactive substances has been registered in our area as well. For example, in specialized stores, known as smart shops, products that are sold as refreshers of space, bath salts and similar, which users consume by inhaling or smoking.
Many countries, in line with the recommendations from the United Nations and European Union directives, have added certain new psychoactive substances to law-controlled drug lists.
So far, the United Nations and the European Centre for Drug and Addiction Monitoring have registered about 950 different compounds, mostly of synthetic origin, that can be classified as a new psychoactive substance.
