Abstract
The relevance of the problem of new psychoactive substances (NPS) dates back to the 20th century. An important stage was the 80s, when the “Designer drugs” start speading. The use of these substances was aimed at imitating the pharmacological effects of traditional narcotic drugs, while their chemical modification made it possible to avoid existing legal regulations. Criminals constantly change the chemical structure of substances in order to circumvent control mechanisms. As a result, the number and types of new psychoactive substances are constantly increasing. The present paper describes the problematic issues related to NPS, statistics on their detection, intoxication and lethal outcomes caused by NPS. Recently, special attention has been paid to monitoring NPS and their metabolites through epidemiological studies of wastewater. This method is an effective tool for determining the real picture of drug use in the population. NPS are in circulation under various names, such as α-PVP, 3-CMC, 3-MMC, 4-CMC, 4-MMC, ethylone, Pentedrone, NBOME, and other substances. The use of NPS can cause various acute psychiatric and neurological symptoms, and many cases of death and severe intoxication are recorded in the publications when using NPS. At the same time most NPS are chiral substances. Enantiomers often have radically different biological activities. Traditional chromatography-mass spectrometric methods often fail to separate them. Chiral chromatography is necessary for enantiomeric separation. From a legal point of view, it is critical to differentiate isomers, since they may have different legal status and pharmacological effects. Based on the above, the introduction of enantioselective methods ensures accurate clinical separation and fair legal assessment. It is necessary to continue fundamental research to study the stereochemical characteristics of NPS.
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