LAUSR

BACKGROUND In the last decade, new psychoactive substances including synthetic cannabinoids (SC) have appeared and are rapidly spreading in the Siberian Federal District of Russia. The determination of the individual composition of the synthetic cannabinoids is very important, first of all, for assessing the risk of harming the health of potential consumers as well as for determining sources of their appearance. OBJECTIVE To describe the types of synthetic cannabinoids, the dynamics of their occurrence and distribution in the illegal market of drugs in the territory of the Siberian Federal District (Russia) for the period from January 2009 till December 2018. Compare the results obtained with the SC distribution trends in other countries. METHOD A retrospective analysis of databases (narcotic reports, chromatograms, mass-spectrums) obtained from GC-MS studies of 2142 samples taken from illicit trafficking in the territory of the Siberian Federal District (Russia) from January 2009 to December 2018 was conducted. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION During the analyzed period, 61 individual SCs of various types were identified in the studied samples. Of these, the AB-PINACA-CHM, MDMB(N)-2201, CBL-2201, TMCP-2201 were found most frequently (10-24% cases). In single cases JWH-018-Br, JWH-018-CI, JWH-019, MBA-2201 and QCBL(N)-2201 were identified. The share of the other identified individual SC did not exceed 10%. The results obtained are compared with the SC distribution trends in some countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the European Union and Turkey. Creating an objective global picture of the prevalence of SC requires a unified approach to the provision of relevant representative data.