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A wide range of new psychoactive substances (NPS)[1] has emerged in European countries in recent years. They are relatively easy to obtain from internet shops and promoted as legal alternatives to illegal drugs ("legal highs"). So far, little data are available about prevalence, side effects and long-term risks. For this reason, drug treatment and health care providers are not familiar with the effects of NPS and may have problems to deal with cases of legal highs use. Law enforcement authorities face a similar problem: usually, knowledge about the substances and their appearance is very limited. Furthermore, many NPS are hard to identify by forensic laboratories. The testing of unknown substances is time-consuming and expensive ([8] European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), 2011).
The speed at which new substances appear on the market puts pressure on drug policy officials to respond swift and appropriately to this phenomenon. "The changing landscape of 'legal highs' presents a particular challenge to all those involved in tackling the harms caused by such substances" ([2] Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), 2012). A lot of work is necessary in order to identify these substances, assess their risks, collect data about the users, develop strategies and report new trends. But European drug policy officials are also aware of the unintended consequences control measures could have: namely "substitution of the newly controlled substance with another non-controlled - sometimes one which has more serious effects" ([8] EMCDDA, 2011). And there are other problems which occur due to the heightened awareness for NPS: "[it] can be expensive as it requires the identification of a growing number of new substances and research [and] also requires resources for enforcement" ([8] EMCDDA, 2011). Therefore, several stakeholders in a number of European countries disapprove of legal controls of such substances.
Types and prevalence of legal high products
The broad range of legal highs products containing NPS available can be categorised into three larger groups:
Herbal incense (HI) or synthetic cannabis. This product category became well-known in several countries in 2008 as "Spice". At that time, a media hype on "Spice" reached its peak in Germany. This marked the beginning of the domestic discussion on legal highs. These products mimic the look and effects of cannabis,...