Legal Regulations as a factor in Minimising the Risk of a Return to Using New Psychoactive Drugs

Abstract

Summary The use of legal highs increases risks in the area of public health in Poland. The law provides for criminal liability for possession as well as the trade of NSP, however, it does not provide for the compulsion of treatment for addicts. The material used as a starting point for a practical presentation of the discussed issues was statistical data on the intake of “legal highs” in Poland in the years 2015–2017, including the number of deaths caused by their use. The authors also conducted a study in the form of analysis of data contained in individual medical records of patients hospitalized in the Acute Poisoning Department of J. Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Lodz due to the consumption of new psychoactive substances. The paper uses the method of analysis of the existing legal regulations, referring at the same time to the doctrine of law and the emerging line of jurisprudence. The analysis of the legitimacy of the introduction of compulsory treatment mechanisms for people returning to the use of designer drugs shows the tendency of their cyclical use by patients of the acute poisoning department IMP in Lodz. In connection with the number of legal highs poisonings in Poland, it is necessary to introduce legal algorithms of conduct concerning the obligation to treat persons using designer drugs harmfully and persons addicted to them. Legal highs, compulsory treatment, new psychoactive substances, legal highs poisoning, protection of public health.