Growing public health risks associated with innovation in illicit drugs
Designer drugs can be created rapidly already but there is scope for advances in neuroscience and pharmaceuticals that will make it possible to create many new compounds designed for specific recreational, cognitive or physical enhancement purposes. Some are liable to have adverse public health consequences.
The flow of new pharmaceutical agents from largely unlicensed and illicit sources has increased over recent years, and shows no sign of abating. Various traditional herbal and food supplement products may be relatively unregulated but are quite legitimate. Alongside recreational drugs and chemical aids for slimming or fitness purposes, there is growing interest in cognitive enhancement, and Viagra is probably not the last ‘lifestyle drug’. Indeed, the flow of new substances is likely to grow, with some producers using increasingly sophisticated methods of production and design for specific effects. Some results may be relatively benign though challenging to conventional rationales for drugs policy (non-addictive versions of powerful drugs, for example); some may interact problematically with social affairs (When is cognitive enhancement cheating, if the improved memories, for example, persist? What about the new inequalities that could arise?). There is scope, however, for more malign developments. Most immediately, there are possibilities of new public health problems, just as opiates and cocaine derivatives are today associated with a range of problems that span from behavioural difficulties to infections transmitted through shared needles.
Sources or references
- Foresight Drugs and Brain Science project (2005)
- Wired magazine article “Chemists Outrun Laws in War on Synthetic Drugs” (2012)
Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.
