Press Release: Commission calls for EU-wide ban on amphetamine-like drug ‘4-MA’

The European Commission on 31 January 2013 proposed an EU-wide ban on ‘4-MA’, a synthetic substance with similar physical effects to amphetamines. The Commission asked EU Member States to prevent the drug spreading freely across Europe by submitting it to control measures.

4-methylamphetamine – or 4-MA – is already illegal in 10 EU countries (Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom). It has been associated with 21 deaths in four EU countries in 2010-2012 alone.

At least 21 fatalities have so far been reported in four Member States (Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) where 4-MA was detected in post-mortem samples, either alone or in combination with other substances, especially amphetamines.

The Commission’s proposal would ban the manufacturing and the marketing of 4-MA, making it subject to criminal sanctions all over Europe. EU governments must now decide on whether to put these measures into force, voting by a qualified majority in the Council.