How Synthetic Drugs are Shaping the Future of Drug Abuse

The rising popularity of synthetic drugs is an emerging drug trend that has been prominent in the media. Synthetic drugs are cheaper and easier to access than traditional street drugs and they can be just as addictive and lethal. The recent increase in synthetic drug abuse has been largely attributed to the low-cost and high availability of these substances. People in many fields have expressed serious concerns about this trend. Synthetic drugs are easily available on the internet with a simple google search. The drugs may be purchased online and shipped to your home without having to go to a seedy part of town and risk getting robbed or assaulted. To make matters worse, our archaic controlled substances act makes it easy to circumvent our drug laws and buy, sell, or transport these drugs without fear of being arrested.

With younger Americans using the internet for every day life, synthetic drugs are an easy choice while surfing online. To make matters worse, we have little education on these drugs while they are going through school. Their parents, teachers and mentors spend plenty of time telling them to stay away from heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine, but little information is available to them on the harms of synthetic drugs. 

According to NPSDiscovery, novel psychoactive substances (NPS), including synthetic cannabinoids, continue to pose significant challenges for forensic scientists, clinicians,
and public health and public safety personnel. Synthetic cannabinoids have been implicated in an increasing number of emergency room admissions, death investigations, and intoxication events in corrections populations

The Third Quarter of 2021 – Synthetic Drug Trends & What is Being Seen on the Streets

The following information comes from NPS Discovery. They analyzed specimens recovered from illicit drug investigations, medicolegal death investigations, and driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) investigations. In the third quarter of 2021, synthetic benzodiazepines represented the highest number of specimens analyzed, were synthetic benzodiazepines. This was followed by synthetic opioids, synthetic stimulants, and then synthetic cannabinoids.

The most popular synthetic benzodiazepine was Etizolam, which I warned readers about back in 2018. You can read that warning here. Etizolam has been seen increasingly mixed with fentanyl, which causes a dangerous poly drug combination.

Synthetic Opioid 2-Methyl AP-237

When it comes to synthetic opioids (not including fentanyl), 2-Methyl AP-237 has been at the top of the list. According to the DEA, the people who abuse this drug are the same as those abusing prescription opioid analgesics, heroin, tramadol, depressants, fentanyl, and other synthetic opioid substances. This is evidenced by the drugs co-identified in 2-methyl-AP-237 associated with fatal and nonfatal overdose cases. Because abusers of 2-methyl-AP-237 are likely to get it through unregulated sources, the identity, purity, and quantity are uncertain and inconsistent, thus posing significant adverse health risks to the end user. 2-methyl-AP-237 may pose potential health and safety risks for users. The identification of this substance in overdose and post-mortem cases is of concern to the public safety. 

Synthetic Stimulants: Eutylone

When it comes to synthetic stimulants, Eutylone has come out on top in the 3rd quarter. I wrote about this drug and gave a warning about its use back in April 2020. You can read that article here. The attractiveness of Eutylone comes from its availability, price, and legality. Eutylone is easily obtained through a simple google search and purchased cheaply through Chinese manufacturers. 

Synthetic Cannabinoids: MDMB-4en-PINACA

MDMB-4en-PINACA is the most popular synthetic cannabinoid in the past quarter. There isn’t much information out there on this drug, except that it continues to pop up in some investigations. It is easily available through the open internet and I found a gram for $65 in under 15 seconds of searching. As it becomes more available, I’m sure we will begin to see more “trip reports” from users.