Approximately from 2010 to 2014, in Occidental countries there has been a notable attention, of media and of scientific research, towards the so-called legal highs. A definition of legal high, necessarily not global, can be the following: novel psychoactive substance, employed for recreational purpose, sold as legal and safe, sometimes defined as “mystical incense”, “bath salt”, or “plant chemical”, not approved as a drug, not mentioned in the scientific literature, unknown to health systems and other professionals. They say that the diffusion of legal highs has been greatly enhanced by the internet, and that, generally, those synthetic substances come from Shanghai laboratories, and from other big cities. I cite the legal highs most spread in the cited years, as follows: mephedrone (nicknamed “meow meow”), salvia divinorum, spice drugs, methylone, naphyrone (NRG), and benzylpiperazine (BZP). Experts say that the listed substances are at high risk for the onsets of several psychiatric disorders. To conclude the first part of the page, I can remember that, in the year 2010, 41 new psychoactive substances have been officially notified for the first time in EU.
In the second part of the page, I briefly talk about the topic of club drugs, because it is deeply connected and mixed with legal highs. The main groups of club drugs include: ecstasy and amphetamine-like products, poppers, nitrous oxide, psychedelic drugs, stimulants, sedatives and depressants. Well, I have not the illusion of being complete and exhaustive, and I want you to know that. Ecstasy and amphetamine-like products include: harmaline, piperazines (BZP, TFMPP), PMA/PMMA, mephedrone and MDPV, MDMA (sometimes mentholated). Poppers are sometimes sold as room deodorizers or leather polish, are nicknamed “rush” or “high”, and are chiefly destined to rave parties. Nitrous oxide is legal when used from a whipped cream can. There are 3 main families of psychedelic drugs: tryptamines, penethylamines (the synthetic ones for European raves: DOB, 2C-I, 2C-B, 2C-X or NBOMes and 25I-NBOMe), lysergamides. Among psychedelic drugs, there are: bufotenin, racemorphan, LSD, DMT, and psilocybin mushrooms. The main stimulant for clubs is methaqualone, also known as quaaludes, mandrakes (mandies, in UK and Australia), mandrax (in South Africa). In the group of sedatives and depressants, you can distinguish: ketamine (a kind of anesthetic), GHB (date rape drug), and rohypnol (date rape drug). Like said above for legal highs, all of club drugs are at high risk, although even higher, because a number of substances can create addiction. Of course, either legal highs or club drugs are popular for pleasant effects, of various kinds.
It’s time for some short reflections about criminal policies. Even if there is a global agency for recreational drugs, belonging to the United Nations Organization, each country has a peculiar regulation. However, there are two main tendencies: the criminalization, and the legalization/decriminalization. Behind the two main tendencies, there are different political philosophies. Generally, the parties belonging to political left are more prone to legalization, and admit escapism for individuals, in order to reinforce the power of bureaucracies, by avoiding criticisms in the matter of individual rights and freedoms. To the other hand, right-wing parties attempt to increase the personal responsibility of individuals, and the participation of individuals to political choices, in order to delimit the powers of bureaucracies. Given that I don’t want to prolong the page, I jump to the conclusion, even if deepenings and further pages are not excluded. Today, the topic of legal highs has been almost forgotten by official mass media. It’s a collateral effect of the kingdom of political correctness. However, in my opinion, legal highs are important tools for consolidating the faith in Big Pharma, and in the Chinese equivalent. Thus, I suspect that their diffusion is larger and larger.
