33 New Substances Designated Including 'Butonitazen' and Other Narcotics, Psychotropic Drugs, and Raw Materials

MFDS Announces Legislative Notice for the Enforcement Decree of the Narcotics Control Act

Thirty-three substances, including 'Butonitazene,' 'Isopropylphenidate,' and '4-Piperidone,' have been newly designated as narcotics, psychotropic drugs, and precursor substances.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 11th that it will give prior notice of the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Narcotics Control Act containing these details.

According to this amendment, 15 substances classified as controlled substances by the United Nations (UN) or confirmed to have physical or psychological dependence among temporary narcotics will be designated as narcotics or psychotropic drugs. Eighteen substances classified by the UN as narcotic precursors will be designated as precursor substances.

The substance designated as a narcotic is Butonitazene, which has been a concern for abuse. Fourteen substances, including Isopropylphenidate, are designated as psychotropic drugs, and eighteen substances, including 4-Piperidone, are designated as precursor substances.

Additionally, this amendment expands the scope of information that the Narcotics Integrated Information Center can request from related agencies to verify the authenticity of information or analyze abuse, including prescription, administration, reimbursement information, and narcotics offenders. Through this, information managed by each agency will be linked and analyzed with integrated narcotics information to be appropriately utilized for analyzing the actual state of medical narcotics abuse.

As the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety conducts the "Wastewater Epidemiology Narcotics Usage Behavior Survey" annually, contents to be included in the survey (such as analysis of narcotics usage and information accumulation) are also included in the amendment.