Press Release: European Commission takes decisive action against legal highs

The European Commission on 17 September 2013 proposed to strengthen the European Union’s ability to respond to 'legal highs' – new psychoactive substances used as alternatives to illicit drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy.

Under the rules proposed by the Commission, harmful psychoactive substances will be withdrawn quickly from the market, without jeopardising their various legitimate industrial and commercial uses.

The proposals follow warnings from the EU's Drugs Agency (the EMCDDA) and Europol about the scale of the problem and a 2011 report which found that the EU’s current mechanism for tackling new psychoactive substances needed bolstering.

• Primary Source

European Commission: RAPID: Memo, MEMO/13/790: Frequently Asked Questions: tackling psychoactive substances across Europe http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-790_en.htm

European Commission: RAPID: Speech, SPEECH/13/717: Tackling 'legal highs': A quicker, smarter and more proportionate response http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-717_en.htm

ESO: Background information: European Commission seeks stronger EU response to fight dangerous new synthetic drugs http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-european-commission-seeks-stronger-eu-response-to-fight-dangerous-new-synthetic-drugs/

EMCDDA: Topics: New drugs and trends: Action on new drugs http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/activities/action-on-new-drugs

EUObserver, 17.09.13: EU commission attacks 'legal highs' http://euobserver.com/justice/121476

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