PSP seized 12 kilograms of new psychoactive substances (NSPs) in Madeira in 2022, four times more than the three kilograms seized in 2021, mostly Alpha PHP, a substance better known as “bloom”, police said.
In a written response sent to Lusa’s agency, the police indicate that over the past six years, “the number of NSP seized has increased year by year both in the number of seizures made and in the number of seizures.” “.
Thus, in 2017, the PSP seized 100 grams of new psychoactive substances in 2017, a total of eight seizures, and in 2022, 12 kg were seized and 145 seizures were made.
From the data sent by PSP, it can be concluded that the number of NSP seizures is always less than that of traditional drugs (cocaine, heroin, hashish, marijuana, and others).
In 2022, 25 kg of traditional drugs and 12 kg of NSPs were seized. Last year, out of the total number of drugs seized, 32 kg were traditional drugs and 3 kg were new substances.
Since 2012, “when the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira first approved Regional Legislative Decree No. 28/2012/M of 25 October, which introduced a legal regime applicable to the consumption and trade of psychoactive substances not controlled by special legislation”, the PSP has gained the power to detain NSP .
Prior to this, the purchase of NSPs was carried out freely in the so-called “smart shops”, but with their closure, the purchase of these drugs began to be carried out in the same way as the purchase of traditional drugs.
Until 2017, seizures of new substances were residual, PSP points out.
The police report that the most seized type of NSP is Alpha PHP, commonly known as “flower”, recalling that “this psychoactive substance was added to table II-A of Decree-Law 15/93 of January 22, by means of an amendment made by Law 25/2021 dated 11 May, thus subject to criminal law, its illicit trafficking is prohibited and prosecuted.”
According to information provided by Lusa, “persons identified as NSP holders (consumers and dealers) are mostly males between the ages of 20 and 40, living in the southern part of the island of Madeira, coinciding with urban areas.”
The PSP points out that “NSEP users exhibit higher levels of violence against themselves and/or third parties than traditional drug users”, stating that “it has records of several users with self-inflicted injuries and severe violence against family members after consumption. NSP”.
The Judicial Police (SP), for its part, did not specify the number of drugs seized in recent years or the number of detainees, adding only that it seized 3.04 kg of Alpha PHP in 2021, more than doubling to 7.6 kg. last year.
In a written response to the Luz agency, the SP coordinator in Madeira refers to the fact that he made “a large number of seizures of synthetic drugs” and identified suspects who were subjected to various measures of coercion, namely preventive detention, although without identified numbers.
“It is important to clarify that the most seized synthetic drug, both in terms of seizures and quantity, the substance commonly known as the “bloom”, called alpha-PHP, has been included in the definition of the drug since May 2021 (Law 25/2021, dated 11/05),” emphasizes Ricardo Tesedeiro, referring to the fact that “it was sold and distributed by a significant number of consumers over several years.”
The SP coordinator emphasizes that the main difficulty of the SP in dealing with new drugs is substance identification, explaining that “the morphological similarities between drugs and NSPs raise doubts about the proper legal regime (criminal in the case of substances that fall under the definition of a narcotic drug or an administrative offense, in case of NSP).
Ricardo Tesedeiro also notes that the JV is installing a poison control center at the Police Science Laboratory in Madeira, which is expected to start operating in July, which will allow “proactive identification of seized substances, creating the conditions for a more adequate public health and justice response.”
In responses sent to Lusa’s agency, both police emphasized the preventive work being done and mentioned that they were part of a “task force” to combat new psychoactive substances, led by the Madeira Regional Secretariat for Health and Civil Protection.
Lusa has contacted the office of Regional Health Secretary Pedro Ramos in order to get a balance on the work done by this team, but has not yet received a response.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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