This report assesses the EU's mechanism for dealing with new psychoactive substances entering the European market. The mechanism, set up in 2005, involves early warnings about new substances between EU member states, risk assessment and, potentially, Europe-wide control measures.

The report finds that the system for early warnings works well, but that the overall mechanism has struggled to keep up with the large numbers of new substances coming on the market. For instance, it is easy for people to get around the current control measures and create new drugs that may be legal but have serious harmful effects. The current system also lacks a range of effective options for control measures.

The Commission is considering various ways to make the EU rules more effective, such as alternative options to criminal sanctions, new ways of monitoring substances that cause concern, and aligning drugs control measures with those for food and product safety. In the autumn, the Commission will present a series of options in this respect.

The report found that new psychoactive substances are becoming widely available in Europe at an unprecedented pace. 115 such substances were reported since 2005. In 2010, a record number of 41 new drugs were reported, up from 24 in 2009 and 13 in 2008. They included a plant-based substance, synthetic derivatives of well-established drugs, and so-called ‘designer drugs'.

New psychoactive substances are increasingly a global problem. While the use of ‘traditional drugs’ such as cocaine, heroine and ecstasy, is “generally stable,” new drugs are supplying the illicit drug market, as traders take advantage of internationally unregulated chemicals, according to the "World Drug Report 2011" by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.