Online New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) Survey: Surveillance highlights, March 2020 to March 2023 

What are New Psychoactive Substances?

New psychoactive substances (NPS) are substances designed to mimic the effects of illegal substances such as LSD, cocaine, and MDMA, but are not controlled under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Over the past decade, the use of NPS has become a global phenomenon, posing potential health risks to the population. These products tend to be easily accessible via the internet, and there is a lack of literature pertaining to their toxicity, long-term use, and dependence risks.

Online NPS Survey

Health Canada sponsors a number of general population surveys which are used to understand psychoactive substance use behaviours and patterns over time. However, often, by the time an NPS is detected using these survey tools, the substance has already become mainstream. In order to improve early detection, Health Canada developed the Online NPS Survey. This targeted survey was designed to allow for periodic extraction of data that could be used to identify new and emerging psychoactive substances, as well as lead to identification of patterns of use for various NPS.

The questionnaire focused mainly on a single, recent episode of NPS use, and so the survey unit is an episode of use. Multiple survey completions per participant were allowed. The survey was started in March 2020 and closed in March 2023.

Results

There were 711 episodes of substance use report by at least 631 respondents over the duration of the survey. Of those 711 episodes of use, 262 involved use of an NPS. Health Canada identified 38 unique NPS being used by the respondents. Some of the most frequently reported NPS were:

• 1-Propionyl lysergic acid diethylamide (1P-LSD)
• 4-Acetoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (4-AcO-DMT)
• 4-Hydroxy-N-methyl-N-ethyltryptamine (4-HO-MET)
• 1-Cyclopropionyl lysergic acid diethylamide (1cP-LSD)
• 1-Acetyl lysergic acid diethylamide (ALD-52)
• 3-Fluorophenmetrazine (3-FPM)

In 18.0% of episodes, the NPS was used as a replacement for controlled substances such as magic mushrooms, LSD, or MDMA, for reasons such as greater accessibility, online availability, legal status, or lower price.

The pharmacological classes of the 38 identified NPS were:

• Hallucinogens: 63.2%
• Sedatives: 15.8%
• Opioids: 7.9%
• Stimulants: 7.9%
• Dissociatives: 2.6%
• Antidepressants: 2.6%

50% of episodes of NPS use involved concurrent use with another substance. The top 3 most reported substances being used concurrently with NPS were:

1. Cannabis
2. Tobacco
3. Alcohol

Most episodes of use were reported by males and by 18-29 year olds:

• 4 out of 5 episodes of use were reported by men
• 61% episodes of use were reported by 18-29 year olds

Survey responses did not indicate a high frequency of NPS use. The majority of responses indicated use of NPS less than once a month. The reported frequency of NPS use for the last 12 months was:

• 1-2 times: 35.9%
• 3-11 times: 33.8%
• 1-3 times per month: 16.9%
• Weekly: 7.0%
• Daily: 6.3%

Most responses indicated that the NPS were purchased from an online store (72.1%). Other methods used to obtain NPS included:

• Friend/acquaintance (12.7%)
• NPS specialist (5.2%)
• Substance dealer (3.9%)
• Head/smoke/sex shop (2.2%)
• Other (3.9%)

Conclusion

This data contributes to Health Canada's substance use data and evidence strategy, which provides vital information on the use of drugs and other substances in Canada.