NEW DELHI: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is conducting research on a type of drug called New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) which is being sold in rave parties after being mixed with medicine to escape the law.
“Since these are new synthetic compounds, there are difficulties in detection by usual drug screening. It is important to trace the drug and its supply. This is one such drug which is sold by adulterating medicines, making it difficult to trace. NPS is diluted in bhang, halogens and stimulants, and the design is being changed by the drug supplier,” said Dr Rakesh K Chadda, Chief, National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre.
AIIMS has got a new kit that can identify these types of drugs, which are mixed in other products. A sample of urine is needed to identify the drug and the kit will help determine how much the drug is adversely affecting the patient, and also the impact of the medicine.
“NPS can be associated with multiple health problems such as agitation, aggression, acute psychosis and potential of development of dependence and severe intoxication,” Chadda noted. According to the health expert, data on the toxicity and carcinogenic potential of many NPS drugs is not available or is very limited, which is why the long-term adverse effects or risks are largely unknown.
“The purity and composition of products containing NPS is often not known. Users are, therefore, at high risk as evidenced by hospital emergency admissions and deaths, sometimes associated with poly-substance use,” he stated.
Chadda said NPS drugs could have been available in the Indian market for the past five or six years.
“In all, 479 different types of NPS drugs were available in 2016 in the market. The market for NPS is in a constant state of flux; 72 new NPS emerged in 2016, and 60 NPS have disappeared from the market since 2013,” he said.