"● The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving cocaine increased slightly from 1.6 deaths per 100,000 standard population in 2002 to 2.5 in 2006, decreased to 1.3 in 2010, then increased to 8.2 in 2022; the rate in 2022 was 12.3% higher than the rate in 2021 (7.3) (Figure 5).

"● The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving psychostimulants with abuse potential (subsequently, psychostimulants), which includes methamphetamine, amphetamine, and methylphenidate, was 4.0% higher in 2022 than the rate in 2021 (10.4 compared with 10.0).

"In general, synthetic cathinones are classified as stimulants or amphetamine-type stimulants [109, 110]. However, the pharmacological effects of individual derivatives are strictly dependent on the type of substituents and their location, and the differences in pharmacological profiles between individual cathinone derivatives are considerable.

"The NPS phenomenon remains a considerable challenge due to its evolving nature. The range of compounds currently on the drug market is constantly changing, with new and previously unknown substances entering the market every year.

"The phenomenon of new psychoactive substances (NPS) is an ongoing problem in modern forensic toxicology. One of the most important groups among NPS are synthetic cathinones, which are derivatives of cathinone, a natural alkaloid found in the shrub Catha edulis.

"Illicit drug use at music festivals has been the subject of Australian public and media attention following the drug-related deaths of six young Australians across two festival seasons in 2019 and 2020 (Lee, 2019), and a further young Australian at a festival in February 2023 (Australian Associated Press, 2023).

"The most recent data shows that drug producers continue to create new substances to avoid legal controls, although the rate at which new psychoactive substances are now entering the market appears to be slowing. Between 2016 and 2022, typically around 50 new psychoactive substances appeared on the market for the first time each year; this fell to 26 in 2023. In addition, around 400 previously reported new substances are detected on the market each year."

"With the growing availability of AAS [Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids] through online platforms [71, 72] the traditional reliance on social networks and healthcare providers for access to injecting equipment and safer use information has diminished [73–76].

"Community pharmacies are essential healthcare destinations that serve as an optimal resource for addressing non-urgent inquiries, such as safe injecting practices, management of adverse drug reactions, and medication provision, thus reducing the burden on general practitioners (GPs) [1, 2].

"The final theme emanating from this exploration is the notable affordances and ‘malaffordances’ of both platforms that facilitate IPED supply. To first address the former of these, a fundamental capitalist logic undergirds the replication of mainstream marketing tactics in the social media IPED market.

"The market for image and performance enhancing drugs has undergone seismic changes in the last two decades and, as has been alluded to above, its partial digitisation has created something of a dual space of commerce (Gibbs, Forthcoming). Before presenting an overview of the supply-side of the market however, it is worth considering the production of IPEDs.