Keynote Speaker Dr Justice Tettey

Dr Justice Tettey
Chief, Laboratory and Scientific Service, UNODC

Works for United Nations office on Drugs and Crime. (UNODC)

The UNODC helps to make the world safer from drugs, organized crime and terrorism. It is committed to achieveing health, security and justice for all by tackling these threats and promoting peace and sustainable well-being as deterrents to them.

Will be presented in Salzburg

Current NPS Threats
Currently, approximately 1100 individual NPS have been reported to the UNODC Early Warning Advisory by 133 countries and territories. Overall, stimulants account for the largest group of substances reported, followed by synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists and classic hallucinogens. However, certain groups of NPS such as synthetic opioid receptor agonists continue to be on the rise with an almost four-fold increase from 2016 until mid-2020. The group of sedative/ hypnotics has also shown a steady increase in recent years

According to the UNODC EWA, 68% of NPS identified in toxicology cases from January 2019 to April 2020 were benzodiazepine-type substances. Poly-drug use continues to be a major feature of toxicology reports, particularly in cases concerning fatalities and driving under the influence of drugs. The diversity in the type of substances identified in poly drug use cases highlights the complexity of analytical toxicology and one of the continuing challenges faced by toxicologists in their work.

Does Covid 19 change his focus?
According to the recent UNODC Synthetic Drugs Assessment, the trafficking of drugs during the pandemic seems to have continued without major disruption, with some regions seeing increases in volumes. This emphasizes the continued relevance of helping countries to address emerging threats due to NPS.