title: Drug abuse: newly-emerging drugs and trends.
abstract: Drug abusers have access to new, more potent compounds that evade existing laws by virtue of their novel chemical structures. These drugs are available for purchase at stores and over the internet. The drugs are not illegal because they are so new that laws have not yet been passed to ban them. These drugs are leading to emergency department visits for cardiovascular, neurologic, and psychiatric complications. Standard drug screens are not designed to detect these new substances. The internet provides access to drugs for substance abusers but also provides physicians speed of access to the habits of substance abusers.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Division, Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1515 Sixth Avenue South, Room 220, Birmingham, AL 35233-1601, USA. gdavis@uab.edu
authors.forename: Gregory G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D015198:Designer Drugs; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D015198:Designer Drugs; D013287:Illicit Drugs