Publications

The current issue provides insight to how the expansion of the synthetic drugs market is driven by recent key trends and developments in precursor chemicals used in illicit drug manufacture. The Update documents the use of non-scheduled and "designer" precursors in recent years, especially in the manufacture of amphetamine, methamphetamine and fentanyl, and how these developments pose significant challenges to international and states' precursor control regimes. These significant challenges include the timely detection of and agile response to new developments in illicit manufacture; and identification of additional measures to complement and/or enhance present control regimes in response to these new phenomena. The Update also outlines possible options that Member States may wish to adopt in order to develop an effective response to these challenges, that is, understanding clandestine manufacturing through drug profiling, undertaking new national legal approaches to precursor control, establishing public-private partnerships and enhancing international/regional cooperation.