Cannabis, concentrated cocaine… These new trends in the drug market highlighted in a report – L’Express

Explosion of THC levels in cannabis, multiplication of synthetic drugs and in particular opioids and cannabinoids, increasingly concentrated cocaine… An investigation by the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT), published this Tuesday 17 December, reveals the new trends – and dangers – of the drug market in France. This report is based on the National Identification System for Toxicants and Substances (Sintes), a system for observing the composition of illicit psychoactive products coordinated by the OFDT, which is based on the collection of 731 product samples. psychoactive in 2023.

This report, rich in information and new data, is intended for politicians and health stakeholders but also for drug users and the general public. It details in particular the average and median active substance contents of the different products collected by the Sintes system. The samples are transferred by consumers – following undesirable effects for example – to one of the 16 local coordinations in mainland France and in the overseas territories, as well as to the coordination supported by the forum Psychoactive.org. They are then analyzed in laboratories, often using cutting-edge technologies: thin layer chromatography, high pressure gas or liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The analyzes are therefore extremely reliable and precise.

With only 731 samples, the OFDT warns, however, that these figures are indicative and not representative of the average contents of products circulating throughout France. However, they make it possible to detect weak signals and new trends. “The DNA of Sintes is to identify emerging phenomena in order to participate in health monitoring and issue alerts if necessary,” explains Sabrina Cherki, toxicologist at the OFDT, national coordinator of Sintes and main author of the survey.

Cocaine increasingly concentrated

Cocaine remains the product most frequently collected by the Sintes system, which confirms the importance of the supply – and consumption – of this drug. Analyzes of the 131 samples confirm an upward trend in active substance levels. Thus 44% were pure, 15% simply presented some residual impurities from processing and 26% of the samples contained at least one “adulterating agent”, most often levamisole, an antiparasitic used in veterinary medicine.

“Year after year, we observe in our collections a regular increase in cocaine levels, therefore a reduction in cuts, specifies Sabrina Cherki. This is a phenomenon which is confirmed, with always the same risk of overdose, when consumers continue to take the same doses even though the product is stronger. Pink cocaine, which had been the subject of alerts in 2022 and 2023 and which, contrary to what its name suggests, contains a mixture of ketamine and MDMA, was, however, very little collected in 2023. A potential sign that the product ultimately did not meet its audience.

The increase in THC levels worries

The new developments in the report are more on the cannabis side, with the appearance of new products with very high THC – or synthetic THC – contents. “A cannabis oil could thus be collected in 2023 and dosed at 78% delta-9-THC. These forms, resinous and oily, could also be incorporated into other products, such as CBD herbs or CBD products. food,” the report said. “We are particularly concerned about edible products,” emphasizes Sabrina Cherki. “There are always space cookiesbut also candies or gummies, a trend imported from the United States, which can appeal to a young audience and are more difficult to analyze due to their shape and composition.

The OFDT indicates that consumers came to have their cannabis product tested most often after the occurrence of unexpected effects and adverse events linked to this very high THC content. “Serious adverse events led to 13 collections relating to acute cannabis poisoning – tachycardia, confusion, nausea, hyperemesis (vomiting), convulsions, hallucinations – due to highly concentrated products,” write the authors.

Fake fentanyl, real synthetic opium

Above all, the report highlights the appearance of a large number of synthetic cannabinoids, such as hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), which appeared in France in 2022 and was classified as a narcotic in June 2023. Many of them are involved in cases of deception, where these synthetic cannabinoids are presented by traffickers like other substances, such as heroin. The OFDT also warns of the appearance of new synthetic drugs imitating opioids. Nitazenes, classified as narcotics in July 2024, were thus identified by Sintes in nine collections in 2023, notably in the context of two health alerts in Montpellier and Reunion Island.

“In Montpellier, these were two products presented and sold as fentanyl [NDLR : une drogue particulièrement dangereuse et mortelle très présente aux Etats-Unis]but which contained metonitazene, a synthetic opioid agonist”, explains Sabrina Cherki. On Reunion Island, these were products presented and sold as cannabinoids. Reassuringly, no trace of fentanyl was found. has now been identified in the territory.

3MMC, a synthetic drug brought to light after the arrest of actor and comedian Pierre Palmade, was widely identified in 2023 and mainly replaced by 3-CMC, even if many traffickers continue to sell it under the 3M™ name. These two molecules are part of cathinones, stimulating and entactogenic synthetic drugs (which promote the desire for socialization, empathy, emotional openness and libido).

The changing heroin market

“There are also concerns about the market heroin, since the poppy fields in Afghanistan, which produced 80% of the world’s opium [NDLR : la matière première de l’héroïne brune] were destroyed by the Taliban. We have not observed any differences in concentration in 2023, but we estimate that this will necessarily have a major impact at some point”, warns Sabrina Cherki. Thus, out of 101 heroin samples supposedly collected in 2023, 87 – or 86% – were found to contain heroin (86%). Brown heroin remains the predominant form, with 80 samples, and so-called white heroin – manufactured in South-East Asia. from morphine and whose active substance content is much higher – was collected seven times in 2023.

“At this stage, we can only formulate hypotheses about the future transformation of the market, but we can fear the replacement of heroin by other synthetic products that we do not yet know or witness the rise of ‘white heroine’. This could further increase health problems. Today, brown heroin is already very adulterated in France. Among the 87 samples analyzed as heroin by the OFDT, only 3 did not contain any adulterant. Most were cut with paracetamol and caffeine (54%). On the other hand, no adulteration with xylazine, a sedative for veterinary use, fentanyl or benzodiazepines was revealed by the Sintes device.

From ketamine to hydroxychloroquine

On the MDAM side, the 2023 analyzes confirm high contents for the crystal form and significant variability for the compressed form, more often called ecstasy. Of the 26 samples of crystalline MDMA, 19 assays could be carried out. Their median content was 91.5%, which is similar to European trends. For samples collected in the form of tablets, as in previous years, a significant variability in concentrations was observed, from 9.5 to 52.4%.

Finally, the increase in ketamine consumption, highlighted in the latest survey Oppidum, a monitoring device of the use of psychoactive substances from the French Addictovigilance Network, is confirmed by the OFDT survey. The report also points to “the occurrence of mild adverse events in almost half of the ketamine collections” as well as serious adverse effects which motivated the collection of five samples.

“Among these five collections, two were associated with the lesional toxicity of ketamine on the urinary system. Two other collections were associated with the occurrence of k-holethat is to say the achievement of a dissociative state, with a loss of consciousness with amnesia after taking high doses of ketamine”, write the authors, who note very variable concentrations. Among the 14 samples of ketamine dosed in 2023, the contents ranged from 2% to 100%. The median content is 51%. Surprisingly, some samples were cut with… hydroxychloroquine. does not have psychoactive properties, so it is not a search for synergy of effects. This is a very low noise signal, perhaps this is the mark of other traffic? Impossible to say anything,” Sabrina Cherki cautiously advances.