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Recreational use of 1‐(2‐naphthyl)‐2‐(1‐pyrrolidinyl)‐1‐pentanone hydrochloride (NRG‐1), 6‐(2‐aminopropyl) benzofuran (Benzofury/ 6‐APB) and NRG‐2 with review of available evidence‐based literature
Author(s) -
Jebadurai Jeshoor,
Schifano Fabrizio,
Deluca Paolo
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.2302
Subject(s) - mephedrone , recreation , key (lock) , internet privacy , psychoactive substance , grey literature , web of science , the internet , world wide web , psychology , computer science , advertising , business , political science , medline , drug , psychiatry , computer security , law
Objective This study aimed to review the available evidence‐based literature on novel psychoactive substances and to inform health care professionals. Methods Internet searches were carried out using Google and Yahoo by using specific key words. For each set of key words, the first 100 websites identified by Google and Yahoo were fully assessed, together with a further 5% of random samples selected by research randomizer of the remaining websites. Thus, a list of unique web forums was identified, and qualitative information was extracted. Available evidence‐based literature were reviewed along with a user's experimentation with mephedrone, NRG‐1, NRG‐2 and Benzofury. Results It showed that when a substance (mephedrone) became controlled, the vendors aggressively promote the sale of other new compounds (NRG‐1, NRG‐2, Benzofury) to attract vulnerable adults. The characteristics, toxicity and suggested management of these new compounds (NRG‐1, NRG‐2, Benzofury) are discussed. Conclusions The arrival of hundreds of novel psychoactive substances for sale online has raised a number of public health and legal issues. Although evidence‐based literature remains limited, few studies identified that most products do not contain the ingredients as advertised. Better levels of international cooperation and rapid share of available information may be needed to tackle this emerging problem. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.