The list of new psychoactive substances in Annex 3 to the Decree (hereinafter referred to as ‘List’) isextended with 14 new individual psychoactive substances that could be abused.

Amendment of Decree No 78/2022 of the Ministry of Interior of 28 December 2022 on controlled substances (hereinafter referred to as ‘Decree’)

The 14 new individual psychoactive substances that are to be included in the List of Annex 3 of the Decreewill not be allowed to be freely marketed in Hungary, and activities with their use will only be allowed to becarried out after official registration. Due to the above, health risks will be reduced, as it will be made moredifficult for substance users to gain access to these substances.

Grounds for using the urgency procedure:
Notification of the amendments to the List in Annex 3 of the Decree, as a matter of urgency, is justified ongrounds of both public health and public security. As long as the 14 compounds concerned are not included inthe List, the Hungarian authorities are not authorised under law to intervene and are unable to prevent suchsubstances with unpredictable effects from claiming new victims. Inclusion in the List entails several months ofprocedure. This enables distributors to sell these substances to consumers with impunity during this period.
The rapid entry into force of the amendment could ensure that there is a veritable chance for real-timeresponse on behalf of the authorities once a new psychoactive substance already present in another MemberState appears in Hungary, instead of resorting to the tool of following up the changes in the market supply ofillegal substances, which could force the country to allow the marketing of such substances withoutprosecution in the absence of the necessary legal prohibition. Recent experience has shown that it does nottake long for any new psychoactive substance appearing in a Member State to also reach Hungary.
Any delay in this matter risks more young people falling victim to these new psychoactive substances.
Our experience shows that these substances are, if possible, even more dangerous for consumers thantraditional drugs or new psychoactive substances that have emerged in the past because their mechanism ofaction and its consequences are unpredictable.