An increase in the use of new psychoactive substances among young people is registered in Kyrgyzstan. The Republican Center for Health Promotion and Mass Communication reported, citing the Republican Center for Psychiatry and Narcology.
It is noted that relatives or school authorities who have identified a child/student’s addiction apply for help to the center.
UNODC defines new psychoactive substances (NPS) as follows: «These are substances of abuse, either in a pure form or a preparation, that are not controlled by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, but which may pose a public health threat». New psychoactive substances are found on the market under names such as «legal drugs», «bath salts» and «chemical reagents».
The word «new» in the name indicates not so much the novelty of such substances — some were synthesized decades ago, but their recent appearance on the market.
The use of NPS is often accompanied by health disorders. They can cause a variety of side effects — seizures, anxiety, aggressiveness, acute psychosis and potential addiction.
NPS consumers often end up in hospital with severe poisoning.
Data on the toxicity and carcinogenic potential of many NPS are either lacking or very limited, and the long-term adverse effects of such substances and risks are still unknown. The purity and composition of the substances are often not known, leaving their consumers at increased risk, as data on emergency hospitalizations show.
