Implementing decision 2018/748 - Subjecting the new psychoactive substance 1-(4-cyanobutyl)-N-(2-phenylpropan-2-yl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (CUMYL-4CN-BINACA) to control measures - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 125/10

In accordance with Article 6 of Decision 2005/387/JHA, a risk assessment report on the new psychoactive substance 1-(4-cyanobutyl)-N-(2-phenylpropan-2-yl)-1H-indazole-3-carboxamide (‘CUMYL-4CN-BINACA’) was drawn up by a special session of the extended Scientific Committee of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and was submitted to the Commission and to the Council on 14 November 2017.

CUMYL-4CN-BINACA is a synthetic cannabinoid. It has similar effects to those of THC, which is responsible for the major psychoactive effects of cannabis, but CUMYL-4CN-BINACA has additional life-threatening toxicity. The high potency of CUMYL-4CN-BINACA on the one hand, and the fact that it can account for a large or unknown variable proportion of smoking mixtures on the other, means that it constitutes a significant poisoning risk.

CUMYL-4CN-BINACA has been available in the Union since at least October 2015 and has been detected in 11 Member States. Due to the nature of CUMYL-4CN-BINACA, cases of detection are likely to be underreported since CUMYL-4CN-BINACA is not routinely screened for. In most cases, CUMYL-4CN-BINACA was seized as powder or herbal material, but it has also been seized, though to a lesser extent, in other physical forms, for example in blotter form. More than 270 seizures have been made within the Union.

11 deaths associated with CUMYL-4CN-BINACA have been reported by two Member States. In the case of at least five of those deaths CUMYL-4CN-BINACA was the cause of death or was likely to have contributed to the death. In addition, five acute non-fatal intoxications associated with CUMYL-4CN-BINACA were reported by two Member States. Due to the nature of CUMYL-4CN-BINACA, both non-fatal intoxications and deaths caused by CUMYL-4CN-BINACA are likely to be underdetected and underreported.

There is no information on the involvement of organised crime in the manufacture, distribution, trafficking and supply of CUMYL-4CN-BINACA within the Union. The available data suggest that CUMYL-4CN-BINACA is produced by chemical companies in China.

CUMYL-4CN-BINACA is typically sold in small and wholesale amounts in head shops, branded as a so-called legal-high, as smoking mixtures or as powder, as well as on the internet, branded as a so-called legal replacement for cannabis. It is also likely to be sold directly on the illicit drug market. As the packaging of such products rarely state the ingredients, most users are unaware that they are using CUMYL-4CN-BINACA or even synthetic cannabinoids in general.

CUMYL-4CN-BINACA has no recognised human or veterinary medical use in the Union nor, it appears, elsewhere. There are no indications that CUMYL-4CN-BINACA can be used for any other purpose aside from as an analytical reference standard and in scientific research.

The risk assessment report reveals that many of the questions related to CUMYL-4CN-BINACA that are posed by the lack of data on the risks to individual health, risks to public health, and social risks,...