Implementing decision 2016/1070 - Subjecting 1-phenyl-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)pentan-1-one (α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone, α-PVP) to control measures - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 178/18

A risk assessment report on the new psychoactive substance 1-phenyl-2-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)pentan-1-one (α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone, α-PVP) was drawn up in accordance with Decision 2005/387/JHA by a special session of the extended Scientific Committee of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, and was subsequently submitted to the Commission and to the Council on 27 November 2015.

α-PVP is a potent psychostimulant, structurally related to cathinone, pyrovalerone and methylendioxypyrovaleron (MDPV), which are controlled under the 1971 United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances. α-PVP has been detected in all 28 Member States, as well as Turkey and Norway, and the information from seizures and collected samples indicate that it is mainly present in powder and tablet form. The available information suggests that multi-kilogram quantities of α-PVP are imported into the Union drug market from China and then distributed across the Union. Two illicit production sites have been seized in a Member State, indicating that the capacity to manufacture α-PVP also exists within the Union.

Eight Member States have reported a total of 115 deaths and 191 acute intoxications where α-PVP was detected. In most cases, the use of α-PVP was combined with other pharmacologically active substances, either intentionally or unintentionally. If α-PVP were to become more widely available and used, the implications for individual and public health could be significant.

The available data suggests that α-PVP is used by stimulant users in recreational settings as well as by high-risk drug users, including those injecting stimulants and opioids, and that polydrug use may be common among them. There is limited data on prevalence of drug use, long-term consequences and on the social risks associated with the substance.

There is no available information or any published study assessing in a comprehensive way the health risks associated with α-PVP, namely chronic and acute toxicity, but observations in animals suggest similar effects to those observed in other stimulants. Adverse symptoms observed in humans include tachycardia, hyperthermia, diaphoresis, agitation, convulsions or seizures, confusion and aggression. Data from non-clinical studies suggest that α-PVP may have an abuse liability and possibly a dependence potential in humans.

α-PVP has no established or acknowledged human or veterinary medical use. Apart from its use in analytical reference materials and in scientific research investigating its chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology as a result of its emergence on the drug market, there is no indication that it is being used for other purposes.

Despite the limited scientific evidence available on α-PVP, the evidence and information on the health risks that the substance poses, as documented in its detection in fatalities and acute intoxications, provides sufficient grounds for subjecting α-PVP to control measures across the Union.

Given that 16 Member States control α-PVP under national legislation...