Stimulant New Psychoactive Substances
Fabrizio Schifano, John Martin Corkery, Valeria Catalani, Stefania Chiappini, Davide Arillotta, Alessandro Vento, Norbert Scherbaum, Amira Guirguis
New Psychoactive Substances June 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1093/med/9780190095697.003.0005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | Argues that the online market for stimulant new psychoactive substances is expanding faster than research, exposing vulnerable users to novel molecules with potentially severe acute and chronic medical and psychopathological consequences. Proposes that clinician education on NPS pharmacology and toxicology could reduce social harm, hospital admissions, and avoidable deaths. |
Abstract
Abstract: Given the large numbers of stimulant NPS having recently been identified from web crawler activities, this chapter comments on the pharmacological, clinical pharmacological, toxicity, and acute/chronic treatment/management issues pertaining to a range of novel stimulants, including psychedelic phenethylamines, novel amphetamine-like molecules, synthetic cathinones, synthetic cocaine analogues, and methylphenidate-like new psychoactive substances (NPS). The online market of NPS is developing much more rapidly than academic research, and a range of novel molecules are consistently offered to vulnerable customers. One of the main issues that has emerged relates to the possibility of intense, acute and chronic, medical and psychopathological consequences of ingesting NPS stimulants. Future NPS-related tutoring activities will allow clinicians to better understand the complex pharmacological and toxicological issues related to the ingestion of these molecules, which in turn would reduce the negative social impact of NPS misuse, unnecessary hospital admissions, and avoidable deaths.