Health and social problems associated with recent Novel Psychoactive Substance (NPS) use amongst marginalised, nightlife and online users in six European countries.

Continued diversification and use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) across Europe remains a public health challenge. The study describes health and social consequences of recent NPS use as reported in a survey of marginalised, nightlife and online NPS users in the Netherlands, Hungary, Portugal, Ireland, Germany and Poland (n = 3023). Some respondents were unable to categorise NPS they had used. Use of ‘herbal blends’ and ‘synthetic cannabinoids obtained pure’ was most reported in Germany, Poland and Hungary, and use of ‘branded stimulants’ and ‘stimulants/empathogens/nootropics obtained pure’ was most reported in the Netherlands. Increased heart rate and palpitation, dizziness, anxiety, horror trips and headaches were most commonly reported acute side effects. Marginalised users reported substantially more acute side effects, more mid- and long-term mental and physical problems, and more social problems. Development of country-specific NPS awareness raising initiatives, health and social service needs assessments, and targeted responses are warranted

Toxicological results in a fatal and two non-fatal cases of scopolamine-facilitated robberies

The use of scopolamine as an incapacitating drug, in sexual crimes and robberies, has been known for many decades. However, blood concentrations and doses of scopolamine in those cases are largely unknown. Here we present the toxicological results of one fatal and two non-fatal cases in a series of scopolamine-facilitated robberies. In the fatal case, the concentration of scopolamine in heart blood was 0.30 mg/L, about 3000 times higher than the average therapeutic level of 0.0001 mg/L (for one dermal patch). In femoral blood, the concentration of scopolamine was much lower (0.0048 mg/L), but still 50 times higher than therapeutic levels. The scopolamine concentration in the stomach was very high (20 mg/ kg) as compared to the heart blood and femoral blood, which explains the very high concentration in heart blood by postmortem leakage from the stomach. In the non-fatal case, the scopolamine concentration in serum, obtained 23 h after the incident, was 0.00035 mg/L. The estimated concentration of scopolamine at the time of the incident is 0.0035 mg/L. In the other non-fatal case, scopolamine was detected in urine and in hair. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</p