Monitoring novel psychoactive substances allegedly offered online for sale in Persian and Arabic languages

Ornella Corazza; Sulaf Assi; S. Malekianragheb; M Beni; Iman Bigdeli; Zoe Aslanpour; Fabrizio Schifano

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.05.005

Monitoring novel psychoactive substances allegedly offered online for sale in Persian and Arabic languages

Ornella Corazza, Sulaf Assi, S. Malekianragheb, M Beni, Iman Bigdeli, Zoe Aslanpour, Fabrizio Schifano

School of Life and Medical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Numbers of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) have been rapidly increasing over the past few years, with unprecedented challenges on traditional drug control systems. The web has been involved in the promotion and knowledge dissemination of NPS, which are being presented online as safer/legal alternatives to illicit drugs. The physical, psychological and social harms associated with NPS have been studied so far mainly in Europe and other English speaking countries. The aim of this research is to provide knowledge on the provision of NPS information/purchase opportunities to Middle East customers, whilst monitoring the Internet in Arabic and Farsi.

METHODS: Web analysis/assessments were carried out in both Farsi and Arabic between 2011 and 2013. Sources were scrutinized with the help of different search engines, including Google Arabic and Google Persian, to carry out searches focusing on both NPS retailers' and social network websites.

RESULTS: The research identified 45 NPS apparently offered for purchase online. Most of these products were of synthetic origin; a few herbal stimulants were identified as well. The pro drug websites were not here easily identified, being hidden behind other, unrelated, websites.

CONCLUSION: Present results may constitute a public health challenge to be considered at both national and worldwide level. New legislative frameworks should also be encouraged in order to ensure a better response to the current threat posed by rapid emergence of these substances.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	724-726
Number of pages	3
Journal	International Journal of Drug Policy
Volume	25
Issue number	4
Early online date	22 May 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.05.005
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2014

Keywords

Central Nervous System Stimulants/supply & distribution
Commerce/statistics & numerical data
Europe/epidemiology
Humans
Internet
Language
Population Surveillance/methods
Substance Abuse Detection/methods
Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

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10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.05.005

Cite this

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title = "Monitoring novel psychoactive substances allegedly offered online for sale in Persian and Arabic languages",

abstract = "BACKGROUND: Numbers of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) have been rapidly increasing over the past few years, with unprecedented challenges on traditional drug control systems. The web has been involved in the promotion and knowledge dissemination of NPS, which are being presented online as safer/legal alternatives to illicit drugs. The physical, psychological and social harms associated with NPS have been studied so far mainly in Europe and other English speaking countries. The aim of this research is to provide knowledge on the provision of NPS information/purchase opportunities to Middle East customers, whilst monitoring the Internet in Arabic and Farsi.METHODS: Web analysis/assessments were carried out in both Farsi and Arabic between 2011 and 2013. Sources were scrutinized with the help of different search engines, including Google Arabic and Google Persian, to carry out searches focusing on both NPS retailers' and social network websites.RESULTS: The research identified 45 NPS apparently offered for purchase online. Most of these products were of synthetic origin; a few herbal stimulants were identified as well. The pro drug websites were not here easily identified, being hidden behind other, unrelated, websites.CONCLUSION: Present results may constitute a public health challenge to be considered at both national and worldwide level. New legislative frameworks should also be encouraged in order to ensure a better response to the current threat posed by rapid emergence of these substances.",

keywords = "Central Nervous System Stimulants/supply & distribution, Commerce/statistics & numerical data, Europe/epidemiology, Humans, Internet, Language, Population Surveillance/methods, Substance Abuse Detection/methods, Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology",

author = "Ornella Corazza and Sulaf Assi and S. Malekianragheb and M Beni and Iman Bigdeli and Zoe Aslanpour and Fabrizio Schifano",

year = "2014",

month = jul,

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doi = "10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.05.005",

language = "English",

volume = "25",

pages = "724--726",

journal = "International Journal of Drug Policy",

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publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "4",

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T1 - Monitoring novel psychoactive substances allegedly offered online for sale in Persian and Arabic languages

AU - Corazza, Ornella

AU - Assi, Sulaf

AU - Malekianragheb, S.

AU - Beni, M

AU - Bigdeli, Iman

AU - Aslanpour, Zoe

AU - Schifano, Fabrizio

PY - 2014/7/1

Y1 - 2014/7/1

N2 - BACKGROUND: Numbers of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) have been rapidly increasing over the past few years, with unprecedented challenges on traditional drug control systems. The web has been involved in the promotion and knowledge dissemination of NPS, which are being presented online as safer/legal alternatives to illicit drugs. The physical, psychological and social harms associated with NPS have been studied so far mainly in Europe and other English speaking countries. The aim of this research is to provide knowledge on the provision of NPS information/purchase opportunities to Middle East customers, whilst monitoring the Internet in Arabic and Farsi.METHODS: Web analysis/assessments were carried out in both Farsi and Arabic between 2011 and 2013. Sources were scrutinized with the help of different search engines, including Google Arabic and Google Persian, to carry out searches focusing on both NPS retailers' and social network websites.RESULTS: The research identified 45 NPS apparently offered for purchase online. Most of these products were of synthetic origin; a few herbal stimulants were identified as well. The pro drug websites were not here easily identified, being hidden behind other, unrelated, websites.CONCLUSION: Present results may constitute a public health challenge to be considered at both national and worldwide level. New legislative frameworks should also be encouraged in order to ensure a better response to the current threat posed by rapid emergence of these substances.

AB - BACKGROUND: Numbers of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) have been rapidly increasing over the past few years, with unprecedented challenges on traditional drug control systems. The web has been involved in the promotion and knowledge dissemination of NPS, which are being presented online as safer/legal alternatives to illicit drugs. The physical, psychological and social harms associated with NPS have been studied so far mainly in Europe and other English speaking countries. The aim of this research is to provide knowledge on the provision of NPS information/purchase opportunities to Middle East customers, whilst monitoring the Internet in Arabic and Farsi.METHODS: Web analysis/assessments were carried out in both Farsi and Arabic between 2011 and 2013. Sources were scrutinized with the help of different search engines, including Google Arabic and Google Persian, to carry out searches focusing on both NPS retailers' and social network websites.RESULTS: The research identified 45 NPS apparently offered for purchase online. Most of these products were of synthetic origin; a few herbal stimulants were identified as well. The pro drug websites were not here easily identified, being hidden behind other, unrelated, websites.CONCLUSION: Present results may constitute a public health challenge to be considered at both national and worldwide level. New legislative frameworks should also be encouraged in order to ensure a better response to the current threat posed by rapid emergence of these substances.

KW - Central Nervous System Stimulants/supply & distribution

KW - Commerce/statistics & numerical data

KW - Europe/epidemiology

KW - Humans

KW - Internet

KW - Language

KW - Population Surveillance/methods

KW - Substance Abuse Detection/methods

KW - Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology

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DO - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.05.005

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C2 - 24917190

SN - 0955-3959

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EP - 726

JO - International Journal of Drug Policy

JF - International Journal of Drug Policy

IS - 4

ER -

Monitoring novel psychoactive substances allegedly offered online for sale in Persian and Arabic languages

Abstract

Keywords

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