The proliferation of seizures involving 3-CMC, a designer drug, has shown a remarkable upsurge in Sweden, particularly in selected regions, as per the recent report by local media on Wednesday.
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According to a report by Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN), the period ranging from 2019 to 2022 saw a significant rise in seizures made by Swedish Customs, with the quantity of seized goods increasing from slightly above four kilograms to approximately 68 kilograms.
In the interim, law enforcement officials experienced a surge in the quantity of seizures made, which escalated from a mere five kilograms to almost 104 kilograms within the aforementioned timeframe, as reported by DN.
“The spread of it (3-CMC) started to increase at car meets where youth gathered during the (COVID-19) pandemic,” Kristoffer Halvarsson, a community policeman in Ljusdal in central Sweden, told DN.
Cathinones have recently been found throughout Europe sold as other stimulants. Last year the HSE also identified cathinone type drugs through syringe analysis and ‘back of house’ analysis.
See our update on health concerns and synthetic cathinones: https://t.co/WVJTggn4QI pic.twitter.com/peL59Xno1f
— HSE Drugs.ie (@drugsdotie)
March 23, 2023
“It is far more common than cocaine, which we encounter a few times a year. This (3-CMC), we encounter a couple of times a week,” Halvarsson told DN.
Drug manufacturers frequently engage in the practice of diluting the chemical constituents of their products as a means of evading regulatory enforcement measures.
However, in Sweden in the year 2019, the substance known as 3-CMC and its recently developed iterations were made illegal.
