Editing Designer drug (section)

{{short description|Class of recreational drugs}}
{{for|a list of designer drugs|List of designer drugs}}
{{for|chemical substances scientists use for medical and scientific research purposes|Research chemicals}}
{{about|recreational drugs|drug design in medicinal contexts|Drug design}}
[[File:JWH-018.jpg|thumb|[[JWH-018]], a popular cannabinoid|245px]]
A '''designer drug''' is a [[structural analog|structural]] or [[Functional analog (chemistry)|functional analog]] of a [[controlled substance]] that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug, while avoiding classification as illegal and/or detection in standard [[drug test]]s.<ref name="pmid21083227">{{cite journal | vauthors = Wohlfarth A, Weinmann W | title = Bioanalysis of new designer drugs | journal = Bioanalysis | volume = 2 | issue = 5 | pages = 965–979 | date = May 2010 | pmid = 21083227 | doi = 10.4155/bio.10.32 }}</ref> Designer drugs include [[psychoactive drug|psychoactive substances]] that have been designated by the [[European Union]], Australia, and New Zealand, as '''new psychoactive substances''' ('''NPS'''){{NoteTag|"New Psychoactive Substance," and "Novel Psychoactive Substance" (NPS) are often used interchangeably. The term is more commonly used in Australia, European Union, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.}} as well as analogs of [[performance-enhancing drugs]] such as '''designer steroids'''.'''<ref name="urlNew Psychoactive Substances (NPS) |Drug War Facts">{{cite web |date=8 July 2021 |title=New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) |url=http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/chapter/NPS#sthash.rL4NWCVl.dpbs |work=Drug War Facts |publisher=Common Sense for Drug Policy |quote=The term 'new psychoactive substances' had been legally defined by the European Union as a new narcotic or psychotropic drug, in pure form or in a preparation, that is not scheduled under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 or the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, but which may pose a public health threat comparable to that posed by substances listed in those conventions (Council of the European Union decision 2005/387/JHA).}}</ref>'''<ref name="pmid22191595">{{cite journal | vauthors = Teale P, Scarth J, Hudson S | title = Impact of the emergence of designer drugs upon sports doping testing | journal = Bioanalysis | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | pages = 71–88 | date = January 2012 | pmid = 22191595 | doi = 10.4155/bio.11.291 }}</ref> 

Some of these designer drugs were originally synthesized by academic or industrial researchers in an effort to discover more potent derivatives with fewer side effects and shorter duration (and possibly also because it is easier to apply for patents for new molecules) and were later co-opted for recreational use. Other designer drugs were prepared for the first time in [[clandestine chemistry|clandestine laboratories]].<ref name="pmid22092008">{{cite journal | vauthors = Carroll FI, Lewin AH, Mascarella SW, Seltzman HH, Reddy PA | title = Designer drugs: a medicinal chemistry perspective | journal = Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences | volume = 1248 | issue = 1 | pages = 18–38 | date = February 2012 | pmid = 22092008 | doi = 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06199.x | s2cid = 5108266 | bibcode = 2012NYASA1248...18C | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51809315 }}</ref> Because the efficacy and safety of these substances have not been thoroughly evaluated in animal and human trials, the use of some of these drugs may result in unexpected side effects.<ref name="pmid14582803">{{cite book | vauthors = Reneman L | chapter = Designer drugs: How dangerous are they? | title = Addiction Mechanisms, Phenomenology and Treatment | journal = Journal of Neural Transmission. Supplementum | issue = 66 | pages = 61–83 | year = 2003 | pmid = 14582803 | doi = 10.1007/978-3-7091-0541-2_4 | isbn = 978-3-211-01316-8 }}</ref>

The development of designer drugs may be considered a subfield of [[drug design]]. The exploration of modifications to known active drugs—such as their [[structural analogue]]s, [[stereoisomer]]s, and [[derivative (chemistry)|derivatives]]—yields drugs that may differ significantly in effects from their "parent" drug (e.g., showing increased potency, or decreased [[side effects]]).<ref name="pmid22092008"/><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Buchanan JF, Brown CR |title='Designer drugs'. A problem in clinical toxicology |journal=Med Toxicol Adverse Drug Exp |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1–17 |year=1988 |pmid=3285124 |doi=10.1007/bf03259928 |s2cid=28335757 }}</ref> In some instances, designer drugs have similar effects to other known drugs, but have completely dissimilar chemical structures (e.g. [[JWH-018]] vs [[THC]]). Despite being a very broad term, applicable to almost every synthetic drug, it is often used to connote synthetic recreational drugs, sometimes even those that have not been designed at all (e.g., [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]], the psychedelic side effects of which were discovered unintentionally).

In some jurisdictions, drugs that are highly similar in structure to a prohibited drug are illegal to trade regardless of that drug's legal status (or indeed whether or not the structurally similar analogue has similar pharmacological effects). In other jurisdictions, their trade is a legal grey area, making them [[grey market]] goods. Some jurisdictions may have analogue laws that ban drugs similar in chemical structure to other prohibited drugs, while some designer drugs may be prohibited irrespective of the legal status of structurally similar drugs; in both cases, their trade may take place on the [[black market]].

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