European Commission takes decisive action against legal highs

EU News 404/2013

Brussels, 17 September 2013
IP/13/837

The European Commission today 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 Under the rules proposed by the Commission today, harmful psychoactive substances will be withdrawn quickly from the market, without jeopardising their various legitimate industrial and commercial uses.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 (IP/11/1236).

Source and additional information:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-837_en.htm?locale=en

Viviane Reding Date: 17/09/2013 Reference: P-023951/00-04 Location: Brussels - EC/Berlaymont (C)EU, 2013 URL

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