title: Deconstructing Designer Drugs.
abstract: The concepts behind current "designer drugs" are not new. For several centuries, chemical synthesis has made drugs more specific and more selective. However, headline designer drugs now are different and a serious public health problem because they are illicit unregulated chemical knockoffs of approved psychoactive stimulant, sedative, or perception-altering controlled substances.
authors: Departments of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Medicine, and Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors: E M
authors: EM
authors: Sellers
mesh_terms: D015198:Designer Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000191:economics / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000191:economics; D011634:Public Health; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D015198:Designer Drugs; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs