The analysis of materials thought to contravene the Misuse of Drugs Acts constitute the highest number of submissions to FSI. The increase in the abuse of New Psychoactive Substances puts additional pressure in this area where the analysis of new materials poses analytical challenges.

During 2018 FSI continued to liaise with the Health Research Board and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) monitoring both national and international novel psychoactive drug trends in relation to FSI drug and toxicology casework. No substances were reported during 2018 – a marked decrease from the 15 such substances reported during 2017.

Case numbers reported for 2018, relative to 2017 are shown in Table 1 page 18.