An update on the EMCDDA 2008 Selected Issue on drug-related research, this thematic paper identifies current and future challenges/opportunities for drug-related research in Europe.

 New drugs were detected in the European Union last year at the rate of around one per week, according to the EMCDDA–Europol 2011 annual report on new psychoactive substances released today. A total of 49 new psychoactive substances were officially notified for the first time in 2011 via the EU early-warning system (EWS). This represents the largest number of substances ever reported in a single year, up from 41 substances reported in 2010 and 24 in 2009.

This report presents the results and outlines the key achievements for 2011 on the information exchange, risk-assessment and control of new psychoactive substances.

New drugs were detected in the European Union in 2011 at the rate of around one per week, with a total of 49 new psychoactive substances officially notified for the first time via the EU early-warning system (EWS). This represents the largest number of substances ever reported in a single year, up from 41 substances reported in 2010 and 24 in 2009. In 2011, the list of substances registered was dominated by two groups: synthetic cannabinoids (23 substances) and synthetic cathinones (8 substances). These now represent the two largest drug groups monitored by the EWS and, together, make up around two-thirds of the new drugs reported last year. All of the new compounds reported in 2011 were synthetic.

Also described in the report is the EMCDDA's monitoring of the online ‘legal high’ market. The number of online shops offering at least one psychoactive substance or product rose from 314 in January 2011 to 690 in January 2012.

A small population of chronic heroin users, once thought to be ‘untreatable’, is now benefitting from a novel type of therapy using medicinal heroin as the substitution drug. In a new EMCDDA Insights report out today, experts describe the development as ‘an important clinical step forward’. The report, New heroin-assisted treatment, provides the first state-of-the-art overview of research on the subject, examining the latest evidence and clinical experience in this area in Europe and internationally.

The prescription of substitution drugs, such as methadone and buprenorphine, has become a mainstream, first-line treatment for opioid dependence, with around 700 000 of Europe’s 1.3 million problem opioid users receiving substitution treatment today. But a small minority of entrenched opioid users repeatedly fails to respond to interventions of this kind. Findings from international trials now suggest that the supervised use of medicinal heroin can be an effective second-line treatment for this small, and previously unresponsive, group. In this latest EMCDDA Insights report, experts describe the development as ‘an important clinical step forward’. The report provides the first state-of-the-art overview of research on the subject, examining the latest evidence and clinical experience in this area in Europe and beyond.