The government bans nine new drug preparations and classifies two more as dangerous to health.
“Three of the banned substances are so-called nitazenes, which are extremely dangerous,” says Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed in a press release.
Nitazen is a synthetic opioid, just like Fentanyl. Some Nitazen preparations are even more potent than Fentanyl, which has claimed 250,000 lives in the US in six years.
One of the Nitazen preparations has been detected in Sweden on a few occasions, but the other two are not believed to have arrived here yet.
“With this decision, we are now acting quickly to ensure that the authorities can intervene when these preparations are discovered on Swedish soil,” says Minister of Social Affairs Jakob Forssmed in the press release.
Linked to deaths in Sweden
The decision comes two weeks after the Public Health Agency’s petition, where they reviewed the preparations.
Other preparations consist of cannabinoids and the psychoactive substance cathinone, which resembles amphetamine.
Two additional cathinones are classified as hazardous to health. One of them has been linked to a death in Sweden.
The following substances are prohibited:
• N-desethylethonitazene
• 5-aminoisotonitazen
• The isotodesnitase
• ADB-4en-PINACA
• CUMYL-NBMINACA
• 2-MEB, MDPEP
• 4-CEC
• Deschloroketamine