Open AccessDeaths from novel psychoactive substances in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: Evaluating the impact of the UK psychoactive substances act 2016
Author(s) -
Adrian A Deen,
Hugh Claridge,
Richard D Treble,
Hilary Hamnett,
Caroline S. Copeland
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of psychopharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.333
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1461-7285
pISSN - 0269-8811
DOI - 10.1177/02698811211026645
Subject(s) - stimulant , synthetic cannabinoids , medicine , anxiolytic , cannabis , sedative , drug , cannabinoid , pharmacology , psychiatry , anxiety , receptor
'Legal highs' began appearing in the UK in the mid-2000s. Whilst many of these substances were controlled under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, novel compounds and new variants of controlled compounds were continuously being introduced to the recreational drug market. The Psychoactive Substances Act (PSA) was therefore implemented in 2016 as a blanket ban on all novel psychoactive substances (NPS).