Subjecting the new psychoactive substance methyl 2-{[1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1Hindazole-3-carbonyl]amino}-3,3-dimethylbutanoate (5F-MDMB-PINACA) to control measures

PURPOSE: to subject the new psychoactive substance methyl 2-{[1-(5-fluoropentyl)-1H-indazole-3-carbonyl]amino}-3,3-dimethylbutanoate (5F-MDMB-PINACA) to control measures.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Implementing Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being obliged to follow its opinion.

BACKGROUND: the risk assessment report on 5F-MDMB-PINACA prepared by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and sent to the Commission and the Council on 14 November 2017 concludes that this substance - available in the Union since at least September 2014 and detected in 25 Member States - is a synthetic cannabinoid with similar effects to those of THC, but with additional life-threatening toxicity.

The substance is typically sold in small and wholesale amounts in head shops, branded as a legal high as smoking mixtures or as powder, as well as on the internet, branded as a legal replacement for cannabis. It has no recognised human or veterinary medical use in the Union.

Three Member States have reported 28 deaths associated with 5F-MDMB-PINACA. In addition, one Member State reported 35 acute non-fatal intoxications associated with the substance.

The available evidence and information on the health and social risks that the substance poses provides sufficient grounds for subjecting 5F-MDMB-PINACA to control measures across the Union.

CONTENT: the draft Council decision aims to subject the new psychoactive substance 5F-MDMB-PINACA to the control measures and criminal penalties provided for by Member States ‘legislation, in accordance with their obligations under the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1971.

For more details, see the summary of the Commission's initial legislative proposal dated 18.12.2017.