New psychoactive substances: Availability in online shops, comparing the Czech Republic and Australia

New psychoactive substances (NPS) are phenomena of growing diversity and relevance in recent times. Drug producers are trying to chemically modify classical drugs to avoid criminal prosecution, and are innovating their distribution strategies by selling over the internet. However, little is known about the toxicity and other properties of these substances, and therefore their potential to cause serious health problems remains to be properly investigated. The theoretical section is concerned with the description of different types of NPS, information regarding drugs and the internet and drug policy, followed by a summarization of the current situations in both, the Czech republic and Australia. In the practical section information about drug policy are compared, online marketting is discussed, as are seizures, prevalence systems, prevalence of problem regarding recreational drug users and the general population. The last table summarizes and compares NPS definitions and selected questions from I-TREND and EDRS questionnaires. The drug policy in Australia differs throughout its territories, while in the Czech republic, the drug policy is united. Australia applies analogue laws and an individual list of restricted compounds. This list is being used in the Czech republic as well. The main goal of this..