WIREDGOV

Leading European scientists have convened in Lisbon to undertake the risk assessment of a new psychoactive substance currently raising health concerns in Europe.  The substance in question, the stimulant drug 4,4′-DMAR, is the fifth new drug to be risk assessed this year.  To date, the substance has been linked to 31 deaths in the EU. 

The risk-assessment exercise is being undertaken by the EMCDDA Scientific Committee, with the participation of additional experts from the European Commission,Europol and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The exercise is the second stage in a three-step legal procedure through which Europe responds to potentially threatening new psychoactive drugs in the EU (3).

The risk assessment will take into account the findings of the EMCDDA–Europol Joint Report on 4,4′-DMAR submitted on 12 May to the Council of the EU, the European Commission and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). This report, presenting information collected on the substance to date from the EU Member States, Turkey and Norway, concluded that: ‘the health and social risks caused by the manufacture, trafficking and use of 4,4′-DMAR, and the involvement of organised crime and possible consequences of control measures, could be thoroughly assessed through a risk assessment procedure’.

Today’s risk assessment will include an appraisal of the chemical and pharmacological properties of 4,4′-DMAR. The health and social risks associated with the drug, its prevalence of use and the involvement of organised crime in its production will also be probed.

Following the meeting, a formal risk assessment report will be drawn up and submitted to the European Commission and the Council of the EU. On the basis of this report, the Council may decide to subject the drug to control measures throughout the EU in the final stage of the process.

The EMCDDA released in July the EMCDDA–Europol 2013 Annual report on the implementation of Council Decision 2005/387/JHA, outlining achievements in monitoring new drugs in the EU last year. A total of 81 substances was reported for the first time in 2013, up from 74 in 2012 and 49 in 2011 (4).