As Europe, Slovenia is also constantly facing the occurrence of new psychoactive substances. At the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse the National Institute of Public Health announced that last year 38 new psychoactive substances were identified by the National Forensic Laboratory. Results of the Eurobarometer 2014 research show that in 2014 in Slovenia 13% of juveniles of the age group 15-24 had already tried the new psychoactive substances, thus exceeding the European average (8%).
From the new psychoactive substances, users most frequently choose a synthetic cannabinoid, and a synthetic cathinone. Lately especially the use of synthetic cathinone has increased in Slovenia. Also in our country the most often used synthetic cathinone remains 3-mmc, known among users as "ice cream", the use of which spread from the young people to older drug users, especially those using cocaine.
Internet allows access to drugs, from cocaine to heroin
The accessibility of the synthetic cathinone is mostly due to the relatively low sales price, and also the possibility to simply order it by internet, as some substances have not been entered yet to the list of illicit drugs. The scattering of smaller dealers of new substances always poses a risk for users, especially when these dealers are careless and don’t check what they are actually selling, Mina Paš from the Drogart Association is ringing the alarm bell. She warns that there is an increase in internet purchases of cocaine and heroin, which are thus simply delivered by mail. The advantage of such purchases could be possibility of easy contact among users, who can exchange information regarding the reliability of a provider, and the quality of drugs offered by a certain provider.