Pharmacoterrorism: the potential role of psychoactive drugs in the Paris and Tunisian attacks

Fond, Guillaume; Howes, Oliver

doi:10.1007/s00213-016-4204-2

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The 2015 riots in Paris were thought to involve widespread use of captagon and other psychoactive substances [ 58 ].…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Captagon is a less addictive substance but it may be used in dangerous ways by rioters, combatants, and the military [ 58 ]. The use of drugs to propel demonstrations into street battles has been termed “pharmaco-terrorism” and represents a potential threat, particularly to urban environments prone to political and social demonstrations [ 58 ].…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Emergence of the Old Drug Captagon as a New Illicit Drug: A Narrative Review

Pergolizzi Jr,

LeQuang,

Vortsman

et al. 2024

Cureus

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First developed in the 1960s in Europe and approved briefly for use in the United States, fenethylline (sold as Captagon, one of its early trade names) is now a prominent drug of abuse in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The drug was withdrawn from the United States market because of side effects that included hallucinations, visual distortions, and psychosis; it has also been linked to rare cases of myocardial infarction, seizures, and delusions. The chemical synthesis of fenethylline is straightforward and inexpensive. Manufactured in clandestine labs in Southern Europe and the Middle East, these amphetamines had been used by affluent Middle Eastern young people for recreation or study aids. Captagon has periodically emerged as a drug used in combat and conflict, and it was implicated in the 2015 riots in Paris. It has been described as “chemical courage” for combatants giving them focus, energy, and endurance in battle situations. Captagon is addictive but no cases of direct captagon-associated mortality have been reported. The use of drugs in war is nothing new, but captagon is also used heavily in the civilian population in war-torn areas to help them cope with food insecurity and maintain courage in dangerous situations. Captagon production and distribution drives the Syrian economy, but the drug’s use is limited to certain regions and is rarely seen in North America. The drug is available online, but product may be contaminated with the inclusion of procaine, caffeine, or other substances.

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“…The 2015 riots in Paris were thought to involve widespread use of captagon and other psychoactive substances [ 58 ].…”

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Emergence of the Old Drug Captagon as a New Illicit Drug: A Narrative Review

Pergolizzi Jr,

LeQuang,

Vortsman

et al. 2024

Cureus

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“…Fenetyline is the main terrorist drug in the Middle East, and is used by ISIS and other militant groups in Syria. Captagon was most likely in the blood of terrorists during the 2015 Paris attacks (Fond & Howes, 2016). According to the United Nations World Drug Report (2021) -it is noted that so far there is no conclusive evidence of the production of Captagon in ISIS, since there are other terrorist groups operating in the region that can produce drugs.…”

Section: Security Council Committee Established Pursuant To Resolutio...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ensuring the secure and sustainable development of the society: countering drug trafficking at the global level

Tumalavičius¹

2023

ACCESS

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The recent illegal drugs market trends are connected with the flow of new psychoactive substances also through internet resources. Consequently, the states intensified its legislative initiative in this field. In addition there is a current trend related to the use of smuggled controlled substances and new psychoactive substances, illegal cultivation of marijuana as well as the involvement our countries citizens in the trafficking of narcotic substances. The problem of drug addiction has become very topical as an ever increasing number of youth who are involved in narcotics could become a threat to each and every one of us and security of society as a whole. This case study is devoted to the study of the transformation of approaches to ensuring the safety of society and combating drug trafficking at the international level. The aim of this study is to consider the general problem of drug trafficking as a challenge to modern international security and international economics development. The object of the study is the mechanism of combating drug trafficking at the stage of sustainable development. The analytical method, the method of situational analysis, the comparative method, theoretical studies and specific legal research methods were used as methods in the study as methods used in the social sciences to study objective reality. The methodological approach of the study is constructivism and social constructivism. On the one hand, the analysis of the formation of a global regime of non-coercive solution to the problem of drug trafficking requires a constructive analysis. On the other hand, the problems of global governance are best developed today mainly by constructivism. Finally, this case study testifies to the global dominance of shadow entrepreneurs in narco-states and their participation in illegal drug trafficking bypassing the participation of state institutions and confirms the assumption put forward about the lack of implementation of measures to counter this phenomenon on the part at the state level.

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“…1–3,16,17 Furthermore, as with the use amphetamine and methamphetamine in prior conflicts, fenethylline has been identified as a source of pharmacological morale in battle. 3,4,18–20 The ultimate source of fenethylline’s psychoactive effects has historically been a debated subject, with some results supporting the position that the parent compound itself exhibits psychoactive effects distinct from those of other central stimulants, while others posit that it acts as merely an amphetamine prodrug. 6–11 Considering the additional effort required to synthesize fenethylline, its continued manufacture and use in resource-strained conflict areas provides support for the hypothesis that this drug exhibits exploitable psychostimulant effects that differ from amphetamine alone.…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1–4 Although fenethylline shares a common phenethylamine core with other amphetamine-type stimulants, it additionally incorporates a covalently-linked xanthine moiety into its parent structure. 5,6 These independently-active pharmacophores are liberated during metabolism, resulting in a structurally-diverse chemical mixture being deployed to the central nervous system.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccine-driven pharmacodynamic dissection and mitigation of fenethylline psychoactivity

Wenthur

Zhou

Janda

2017

Nature

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SUMMARY PARAGRAPH Fenethylline, also known as Captagon, is a synthetic psychoactive stimulant that has recently been linked to substance use disorder and ‘pharmacoterrorism’ in the Middle East.1–4 Although fenethylline shares a common phenethylamine core with other amphetamine-type stimulants, it additionally incorporates a covalently-linked xanthine moiety into its parent structure.5,6 These independently-active pharmacophores are liberated during metabolism, resulting in a structurally-diverse chemical mixture being deployed to the central nervous system.7–9 Although fenethylline’s psychoactive properties have been reported to differ from other synthetic stimulants, the in vivo chemical complexity it manifests upon ingestion has impeded efforts to unambiguously identify the specific species responsible for these effects.10,11 Here we develop a ‘dissection through vaccination’ approach, called DISSECTIV, to mitigate fenethylline’s psychoactivity and show that its rapid-onset and distinct psychoactive properties are facilitated by functional synergy between theophylline and amphetamine. Our results demonstrate that incremental vaccination against single chemical species within a multi-component mixture can be used to uncover emergent properties arising from polypharmacologic activity. We anticipate that DISSECTIV will be employed to expose unidentified active chemical species and illuminate pharmacodynamic interactions within other chemically complex systems, such as those found in counterfeit or illegal drug preparations, post-metabolic tissue samples, and natural product extracts.

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Pharmacoterrorism: the potential role of psychoactive drugs in the Paris and Tunisian attacks

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

The Emergence of the Old Drug Captagon as a New Illicit Drug: A Narrative Review

The Emergence of the Old Drug Captagon as a New Illicit Drug: A Narrative Review

Ensuring the secure and sustainable development of the society: countering drug trafficking at the global level

Vaccine-driven pharmacodynamic dissection and mitigation of fenethylline psychoactivity

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