Psychoactive substances bill: written evidence submitted by Dr Ornella Corazza and Dr Andres Roman Urrestarazu

Summary: This evidence argues about the importance to give further consideration to Performance and Image Enhancing Drugs (PIEDs) in the Bill. It presents some preliminary results on the rapid diffusion and motivations behind PIEDs use in society, which is alarming. It argues that more attention should be given in the Bill to the similarities between Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPSs) and PIEDs in terms of marketing, access, consumption and distribution, while encouraging research into their safety and toxicity. The provided evidence will also refer to the necessity to strengthen prevention, harm reduction and public health safety within an international context. In conclusion, it reflects on the need to cross country harmonization of the Bill to include EU regulations in order to avoid parallel imports of psychoactive substances from other EU Member States.