New designer drugs and adulterants: a threat to our young people

The world of recreational drugs has undergone changes that make it more dangerous for young people.

The coronavirus pandemic has allowed social scientists to reflect and observe reality in a different way, perhaps a little more slowly.

Europe was confined for several months and nightlife came to a screeching halt. From having for years and years the bars and discos full of young people at all hours, suddenly, it was necessary to return home and lock oneself in.

But... What happened to drug consumption? How did the drug traffickers move the drugs if the borders were closed? Faced with these doubts, the European Drug Report 2021 sheds some light.

Dynamics of drug use in times of COVID-19

According to this report, the great adaptability of the organizations involved in drug trafficking could be appreciated by the fact that the availability of the various drugs in Europe was not seriously affected by the coronavirus pandemic. by the coronavirus pandemic.

Basically, drug traffickers quickly adapted to the restrictions and changed the way they distributed drugs. Social networks were used as a means of communication, and transports by sea were used to circumvent the closure of airspace and door-to-door services.

As a result, drug use continued despite the restrictive measures of social distancing and confinement. In addition, as soon as the restrictions were lifted, drug use returned, as soon as the restrictions were lifted, drug use returned to pre-pandemic levels..

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The problem of drug adulteration

We already know that not even an almost worldwide confinement could reduce drug consumption and trafficking. Now I would like to introduce the subject that arouses my interest in writing this article. I will talk about some recreational drugs and their purity quality.

According to the European Drug Report 2021 there is a notable increase in cannabis adulterated with synthetic cannabinoids..

To quote from this report: "Any hypothetical situation in which people unknowingly consume synthetic cannabinoids is worrying given the toxicity of some of these substances, as illustrated by the outbreak of more than 20 deaths related to the synthetic cannabinoid 4F-MDMB-BICA produced in 2020" (European Drug Report 2021).

Thus, we find that cannabis is being adulterated with extremely dangerous substances to the point that they can lead to the death of consumersDo consumers, mostly teenagers and young adults, know what substances they are using? The answer is a resounding no.

And this is where we have a very, very serious public health problem. Basically any young person can develop a severe mental disorder or even die on a Saturday night out from consuming an adulterant. This uncontrolled adulteration is observed in most of the illegal drugsas the same report indicates with respect to MDMA. According to the report, an increase in the MDMA content of the various tablets analyzed was observed.

In addition, samples have been detected with very high levels of MDMA, capable of producing severe psychotic symptoms and very dangerous behavioral expressions.

Possible effects of these substances

The adverse effects of drugs will depend on the substance, the quantity and the physical and psychological characteristics of the user. However, among the most dangerous adverse effects is undoubtedly the capacity that some drugs have to the appearance of chronic psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, which can be caused by the use of drugs..

A few weeks ago, in the province of Cáceres, Spain, a batch of cocaine adulterated with a previously unknown active ingredient killed two people and intoxicated dozens more. As reported in the newspaper La Vanguardia, "those affected believed their bodies were invaded by insects or used oil for frying when in fact they put dishwashing detergent in the pan".

I do not wish to give the impression of excessive scaremongering; however, I consider the situation to be very serious. The levels of adulteration of drugs, due to their illegality and the lack of control that this implies, are extremely high. The cocaine samples are only 30% pure, i.e. the remaining 70% are adulterants and excipients, many of them capable of causing death.The remaining 70% are adulterants and excipients, many of them capable of causing death.

Proliferation of new drugs

In addition, there is a wide variety of new drugs, little studied and potentially lethal. On the European continent, more than 400 new substances were discovered in 2019.. Potent synthetic cannabinoids and opioids have also appeared that pose a real threat to the mental and physical health of consumers (according to the European Drug Report 2021).

These substances are consumed by thousands and thousands of young people, and yet there is no interest on the part of health authorities to report on this reality. On the contrary, incorrect names continue to be used to describe them.Can a white powder containing less than 30% cocaine hydrochloride and the rest adulterants be called cocaine? In my opinion, no. It is like calling potato to a dough that is 30% potato and 70% flour, preservatives and colorants, or calling juice to a liquid that has only 7% of fruit.

As an example of this reality, according to the aforementioned report on drugs, the average degree of purity of the different samples of amphetamines marketed at retail in the different countries that make up the European Union ranged from 13% to 67% in 2019 and 50% of the nations reported an average purity of between 20% and 35%..

As a psychologist, I can affirm that only to the extent that consumers know the reality of what they consume will they be able to take the necessary precautions to avoid intoxication or psychotic or depressive conditions induced by adulterated substances. That is why it is essential that those of us in charge of mental and physical health carry out the important work of informing and preventing our youth about the psychoactive substances they consume.

There is no other way, and I believe it is it is crucial to start calling a spade a spade.. What our teenagers think is cocaine is not cocaine. What they think is methamphetamine or amphetamine is not either; it is even the case with cannabis, as seen in the European drug report on synthetic cannabioids.

I would also like to mention another factor that complicates this situation even more, and that is that Europe has changed from being a continent that imports drugs to a continent that produces and exports drugs.. This is because the new synthetic psychoactive substances can be produced in small home laboratories. Consequently, drug consumption in Europe no longer depends on production in Asia or America, as had historically been the case, but Europe is now a continent that contributes drugs to global consumption.

This new reality radically increases our population's access to drugs, which is a further risk factor for the evolution and perpetuation of drug use and its consequent harmful effects on both physical and mental health.

Looking to the future

From my point of view, psychologists and all health professionals and social workers must alert the authorities to this situation and carry out information and prevention campaigns to curb this worrying reality. We cannot continue to call a drug by the wrong name. Our young people must know the truth about what they consume.

It must be a collective and institutional effort and it must start as soon as possible.Otherwise, we will continue to receive news of deaths and severe mental disorders among our youth due to the ingestion of potent, adulterated and dangerous substances.

It is worth mentioning that there are institutions and non-governmental organizations that carry out this informative and preventive work, but there is so little dissemination that the information does not reach the general population, which means that the effort is fruitless.

Nor should we blame the consumers, many of whom are adolescents, since society itself and the environment in which these boys and girls develop are constantly offering contradictory messages..

Alcohol advertising produces the sensation that alcoholic beverages are "good". There is constant talk about the supposed benefits of Cannabis and the different forms of leisure or celebration are almost always accompanied by alcohol; baptisms, weddings, soccer matches, concerts, birthdays, among others. It is the same culture that somehow encourages the normalization of risk behaviors such as alcohol and drug abuse.

Much remains to be done, much to be analyzed, and I believe that it is never too late to make a change and approach a reality such as drug addiction from a more honest and accurate perspective, starting by emphasizing the various chemical compositions of drugs and their effects on the body, and continuing by informing potential consumers about the risks to which they are exposed by not knowing the above.