Etazene, which is misused and abused as a substitute for drugs, will be designated as a new temporary drug. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 20th that two types, including "Etazene," will be designated as temporary drugs.
"Etazene," newly designated as the first group, is a synthetic opioid (opium-like agent) that exhibits a structure and effect similar to "Etonitazene," which has already been designated as a drug in Korea. It is already managed as a 'designated drug' in Japan.
Etazene is a synthetic opioid of the benzimidazole contract and is a drug with chemical and pharmacological structures similar to clonitazene, ethonitazene, and isotonitazene, which are classified as Class I drugs in the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Drugs.
Synthetic opioid-based drugs are being abused by young people around the world. According to an annual report by the European Center for Drug and Drug Addiction Monitoring (EMCDDA), 59 opioid-based drugs have appeared in the market in Europe over the past 10 years since 2009.
As the issue of etagen abuse emerged, the World Health Organization (WHO) also released a special report on etagen at the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence in October last year.
Etazene was created in the late 1950s for the purpose of developing safe and powerful painkillers, but it has never been used for medical or industrial purposes. Individual studies on the toxicity or toxicity of etazene have not been conducted sufficiently. The WHO warned in the report, "Based on the chemical structure of etagen, it seems to have similar side effects and risks to synthetic opioid drugs, and it could pose a major threat to public health."
As etagen begins to gain popularity, related research is also becoming active abroad. According to a study on etazene toxicity published in Nature in 2021, etazene is 70 times more powerful than morphine in terms of pain effects. Thanks to this powerful drug effect, etazene has recently emerged as one of the most popular drugs in the illegal online drug market, including DarkNet. According to reviews left by users on the online community, etazene exhibits hallucinations similar to other opioid drugs, and its resistance increases as it is taken repeatedly.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it will also designate 6-Monoacetylmorphine, which expires on March 8th, as a temporary drug in the second group. "6-monoacetylmorphine" is the main active metabolite of the central nervous system and heroin, and its side effects and risks are similar to heroin.
The temporary drug designation system is a system that designates substances that are not current drugs that are misused as substitute drugs and may cause harm to public health within three years.Substances designated as temporary narcotics are treated and managed in the same manner as narcotics from the date of the designation notice, and the substance is completely prohibited from possession, possession, use, management, import and export, manufacturing, trading, sorting, and receiving and receiving.
An official from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said, "We expect the announcement of the new designation of temporary drugs to help the public health by blocking the distribution of new drugs. We will continue to do our best to protect public health from new and illegal drugs."
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon
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