Trends in new psychoactive substance poisonings in the Netherlands: A 14-year retrospective analysis (2012-2025).
Addiction (Abingdon, England) July 7, 2026 Johanna J Nugteren-Van Lonkhuyzen, Irma S Van den Hengel-Koot, Claudine C Hunault et al.
Between 2012 and 2025, the annual rate of poisonings from new psychoactive substances (NPS) reported to the Dutch Poisons Information Center rose by 19% per year, with the number of poisonings increasing from 32 to 829. Among 19,316 total recreational drug poisonings, 4,289 involved NPS. Cathinones, phenethylamines, and benzodiazepines accounted for 83% of NPS poisonings, though the dominant category shifted over time: benzodiazepines in 2012 and 2024, phenethylamines from 2013 to 2018, and cathinones from 2019 to 2023 and 2025. The most frequently reported NPS were 3-MMC, bromazolam, 4-FA, 2C-B, and mephedrone. Poisonings with other NPS categories were rare, and none involved aminoindanes or piperazines.