EU warns on shift in drugs use An open market for new synthetic drugs, driven by globalisation, technological advances and the internet, is causing a "fundamental shift" in patterns of drug use in Europe, posing a significant challenge to public health and law enforcement, an EU agency has warned. Two synthetic drugs sold both illicitly on the street and as "legal highs" have been linked to more than 40 deaths, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction said in a report on Tuesday. Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, the EU law enforcement agency, said organised crime was becoming involved in a "rapidly developing and expanding market" for new drugs that involved "low risks and high profits." "The unprecedented growth in the number, type and availability of new drugs over the past few years has seen the phenomenon take on global significance," the report said. The rapid appearance of non-controlled alternatives to controlled drugs underlines the ability of the market to respond to changes in the legal status of psychoactive substances. In 2012, the EU's drugs early warning system registered 73 new psychoactive substances, up from 49 in 2011. It now monitors more than 280 new drugs, more than half of which has been reported over the past two years. The internet "appears to be playing a growing role in shaping the market in new drugs," the report said, with the number of online shops selling "legal highs" more than doubling from 314 in January 2011 to 693 a year later. "The emergence of a thriving "legal highs" business on the internet and in specialised shops has marked a fundamental shift in the drugs market," the agency said. These drugs, often produced in China and India, were now being imported into Europe in bulk for processing and packaging. This marked a change from a decade ago when most new drugs appearing in Europe were produced in underground laboratories or sourced from medical drugs and sold illicitly on the street. Some new drugs were also being sold on the street as substitutes for illegal drugs, including amphetamine, ecstasy, heroin and cocaine. The agency said risk assessments had shown that more than 40 deaths had been linked to two new synthetic drugs: a stimulant known as 4-MA sold illicitly as amphetamine, and 5-IT, a stimulant with hallucinogenic effects, sold both illicitly and as a "legal high." The European Commission is preparing proposals for new EU legislation on new drugs, taking into consideration the scientific evidence on the risks they pose. The report also described hepatitis C as "Europe's hidden epidemic," saying it was the most common infectious disease among injecting drug users. "A large burden of advanced liver disease can be expected over the next decade" among these users, it said. Drug-related deaths in Europe had fallen to about 6,500 in 2011, from 7,000 in 2010, the report said, but noted that drug use remained "one of the major causes of mortality among young people."