16 new psychoactive substances
The risks of new synthetic drugs are incalculable for consumers. The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) therefore added 16 individual substances to the list of narcotics at the end of November. The ongoing addition of raw materials or products with suspected narcotic-like effects is a measure to combat drug trafficking.
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New psychoactive Substances (NPS) are synthetic substances with a narcotic-like effect. They are also referred to as "legal highs", "designer drugs" or "research chemicals". The substances are primarily marketed as supposedly legal intoxicants, as they have not yet been included in the narcotics lists.
The use of new psychoactive substances is a health risk: interactions, toxicity with repeated use or Dependency potential are mostly not known. Because of the comparable structure with substances that are already under control, a potential for dependence and abuse can be assumed. In part, abuse as designer drugs has already been established in Switzerland.
Since December 2011, 226 individual substances and 9 groups (derivatives) have been included in the narcotics directory. This enables the authorities to effectively combat the spread of new psychoactive substances on the black market. The update of the Schedule of Narcotic Drugs Ordinance is internationally coordinated and is also intended to prevent Switzerland from becoming a hub for the trade in designer drugs.
The Schedule of Narcotics Ordinance (BetmVV-EDI, SR 812.121.11) contains the lists of controlled substances in the annexes. Raw materials and products that are suspected of having an effect similar to that of narcotics are, at the request of the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products Swissmedic added by the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) to list e (raw materials and products with suspected narcotic-like effects).
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