Biological activity of plant raw materials subject to the counter drug addiction act

Anna Kowalczuk
Anna Łozak
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Zbigniew Fijałek
Z Narodowego Instytutu Leków, Zakład Leków Pochodzenia Naturalnego, Zakład Chemii Farmaceutycznej
Z Narodowego Instytutu Leków, Zakład Leków Pochodzenia Naturalnego, Zakład Chemii Farmaceutycznej
Z Narodowego Instytutu Leków, Zakład Leków Pochodzenia Naturalnego, Zakład Chemii Farmaceutycznej

Abstract

Psychoactive plants have been a part of human life for ages. Used by priests and healers for ritual and medical purposes in the past, at present, psychoactive plants pose a social problem leading to addiction and death of many people. In Poland a July 29, 2005 act and alterations of thereof define the principles and the course of action in counteracting drug addiction. The act concerns substances obtained in the process of chemical synthesis, a dozen or so plants, including opium poppy and marihuana, opium poppy and marihuana products, and compounds isolated from plants. Plant substances included in an alteration to a March 20, 2009 act had not been known in Poland before. Problems with the availability of those substances occurred in Poland in 2008, when those substances, called then “designer drugs” or “legal highs,” were considered to be legal. Little is known about the biological effects caused by the plants included in the act. There is a lack of information about the mechanisms of actions of effectual compounds and about compounds responsible for psychoactive influence. A lack of awareness of health consequences stemming from taking those substances for a longer time poses a threat to young people willing to experiment with new narcotics. This essay will describe 16 psychoactive plants included in the act: Argyreia nervosa, Banisteriopsis caapi, Calea zacatechichi, Catha edulis, Echinopsis pachanoi, Kava kava, Leonotis leonurus, Mimosa tenuiflora, Mitragyna speciosa, Nymphaea caerulea, Peganum harmala, Psychotria viridis, Rivea corymbosa, Salvia divinorum, Tabernanthe iboga, Trichocereus peruvianus.

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