The rules could soon change for pharmaceutical companies that produce and sell drugs containing ephedrine, a substance also found as an active ingredient in a variety of common medications, such as decongestant nasal sprays or bronchodilators for asthma. Tomorrow, a draft legislative decree should arrive on the table of the Council of Ministers, which should introduce a strengthening of the rules on the use and monitoring of ephedrine, in particular to combat illicit use in drug production. As already indicated in the European regulation on the subject, the consolidated law on drugs will introduce a fourth category of “drug precursors”, explains Il Messaggero.
Use in sports and studies
In addition to being present as an active ingredient in over-the-counter drug sprays, ephedrine is also used for illicit purposes, given its psychoactive effect, which in high doses can be an ingredient for the production of narcotic substances. For example, it is used in the synthesis of methamphetamine. It has been known for some time that ephedrine also has effects on the central nervous system. In the past, it was also used as a doping substance in sports, so much so that if it is detected in quantities greater than 10 micrograms per milliliter in urine, the International Olympic Committee considers it a doping substance. “In the past it was also used to improve concentration in studies or even to lose weight – Professor Massimo Clerici, full professor of psychiatry at the Bicocca University of Milan, tells Messaggero – Today it seems have come back into fashion among producers of illegal substances.
The risks
The use of high doses of ephedrine-based substances risks triggering “states of anxiety, confusion, agitation, insomnia, psychotic states,” explains Professor Clerici. But the risks can be even more serious: “even cardiac fibrillation, heart attack and stroke.” If these ephedrine-based drugs are taken with other stimulants, from coffee to amphetamines, “you can fall into a coma – Clerici warns – and even end up dying.”
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