The investigation is paying particular attention to mephedrone, which is the subject of particular concern in many EU countries, including Ireland and Britain.
Mephedrone, and a range of stimulant drugs and synthetic cannabis products, are to be banned in early July following a Government decision based on an assessment by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs.
The British home secretary announced in March that mephedrone was being banned after research indicated it was "possibly implicated" in the deaths of 25 people in England and Scotland.
The British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended that mephedrone be made a class B drug (banned).
An expert on the ACMD, Eric Carlin, resigned, saying the decision was "unduly based on media and political pressure".
Mr Carlin’s exit – the seventh resignation from the ACMD – prompted fresh questions in Britain as to whether drugs policy was being shaped by public and media pressure or science.
Due to the public and political concerns in member states over head shop products, particularly mephedrone, the EU’s top agencies dealing with drugs and crime came together to conduct a detailed examination. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol are examining designer drugs known as cathinones, including mephedrone. They will submit a report to the Council of the EU and the European Commission, who will determine if further action should be taken.
"Synthetic cathinones are increasingly being reported to the EMCDDA and Europol via the EU early-warning system (EWS)," said an EMCDDA spokesman. He said 15 synthetic cathinones, similar to amphetamine, are being monitored through the EWS. He said a rapid audit on the availability of mephedrone on the internet at the end of 2009 showed at least 31 websites were selling the substance, around three-quarters of them dedicated mephedrone sites.
Source: Cormac O’Keeffe, The Irish Examiner, 12/04/2010
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