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Introduction
Stimulant designer drugs (SDDs) in general are derivatives of "classical" amphetamines (amphetamine - AM, methamphetamine - MA, methylendioxy-amphetamine - MDA, methylendioxy-metamphetamine - MDMA and methylendioxy-ethyl-amphetamine - MDEA) and cathinone (β-keto-amphetamine) and have sympathomimetic stimulant effects. The "classical" amphetamines were present in the illicit market and classified as illicit drugs before 2008-2009, when SDDs began to spread worldwide. The motivation behind producing SDDs was to avoid legislative control by altering the chemical structure of illicit substances in a way that new compounds maintained the stimulant activity, but could not be detected by routine drug tests. These new products were sold on the streets and via online head shops as "bath salts" or "plant fertilizers" - indicating that they are "not for human consumption" - or as "legal high" [1] .
Although, some designer drugs were previously available on the black market, e.g. fentanyl analogues [2-4] or synthetic cathinones closely related to pyrovalerone [5] , their use escalated in 2009. The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) reported 304 incidents of bath salts use in 2010, which increased to 6138 in 2011, and has remained high [6] . In 2009, the most widely abused cathinones in the US were MDPV (3,4-metylendioxy-pirovalerone) and methylone (β-keto-MDMA) while in the European countries it was mephedrone (4-methylmetcathinone) [7] . Since 2009, the Early Warning System has reported a steady increase in the number of forensic and criminal cases related to synthetic cathinones in Europe [8] . Between 2009 and 2010, the UK Poison Information Service received an increasing number of inquiries regarding synthetic cathinones [5] . The number of Google searches for the term "mephedrone" showed a 6-7-fold increase between July 2009 and March 2010 in the UK [9] . In 2009, a cross-sectional, self-reported online survey was performed in the UK with the participation of the readers of a leading dance/music magazine. A total of 947 (41.3%) of 2295 participants reported having used mephedrone [10] . In a 2010 survey, 205 (20.3%) of 1006 Scottish school and college/university students reported that they had used mephedrone on at least one occasion. A subsequent survey in Northern Ireland showed 40% of 14- to 15-year-old pupils admitted that they had tried mephedrone at least once [11] . Before 2012, the...