More Than 500 NPS On The Unregulated Market Globally

"After rapid expansion between 2009 and 2018, the number of distinct NPS found on global drug markets has now stabilized at around 550, i.e. at around half the number of NPS ever identified on drug markets. In 2020, Member States reported 548 NPS on the market, of which 77 were identified for the first time. A year later, the number of NPS identified for the first time fell to 50.¹⁹ Between 2016 and 2020, most of the NPS identified were stimulants (mostly cathinones and phenethylamines), followed by synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, hallucinogens (mostly tryptamines and some phenethylamines) and opioids (mostly fentanyl analogues). While a decrease in the number of synthetic cannabinoids found on markets worldwide has been reported in recent years, the number of cathinones and phenetylamines has remained largely stable, with some declines reported for 2020. A small decline was also noticed for tryptamines in 2020."