Since June 1997, the date on which the Council of the EU for joint action adopted recommendations concerning the information exchange, risk assessment and control of new synthetic drugs, PMMA is the fifth product to have undergone the risk assessment procedure. Previously, the extended Scientific Committee of the EMCDDA had performed risk assessments on MBDB, 4-MTA, ketamine and GHB.

Unlike ketamine and GHB, but similar to MBDB and 4-MTA, PMMA is one of the numerous ‘new synthetic drugs’ with no legitimate therapeutic use that are described in Shulgin’s Pihkal (Shulgin and Shulgin, 1991). PMMA is a structural
hybrid of PMA (pa ra -methoxyam pheta mine) and methamphetamine and, although chemically analogous to MDMA, it has one oxygen atom removed. Thus it lacks the important methylenedioxy group present in MDMA. An overview of the scientific literature on the pharmacology and toxicology of PMMA in animals as well as on the human pharmacology, clinical experience and psychological risks of PMMA use was compiled by Professor Hans Rommelspacher from the Free
University of Berlin in Germany. This overview was extended by a thorough review, conducted by Europol and the EMCDDA in association with the various Reitox national focal points, of the pharmacotoxicological, sociological and
criminological information available on PMMA. The main difficulty encountered by experts was the relatively small amount of data existing in the literature for PMMA compared with that available for PMA. However, since both products occur in association in ‘ecstasy’-like tablets and present similar pharmacological characteristics, experts agreed to extrapolate some of the data obtained for PMA to PMMA. A preparatory technical expert meeting with members of the subcommittee for risk assessment was first held on 8 October 2001. Then, members of the Scientific Committee of the EMCDDA plus experts nominated by the Member States and representatives of the European Commission, of Europol and of the EMEA met in Lisbon on 29 October 2001 to discuss the health and social risks of PMMA as well as the possible consequences of its prohibition.
The risk assessment report on PMMA was adopted by this assembly that same day.

As Chair and Vice-Chair of the Scientific Committee, we would like to express our gratitude to our colleagues on the Scientific Committee as well as to the staff of the Centre and, in particular, to Alain Wallon, Lena Westberg and Deborah
Olszewski, who worked hard before, during and after the meetings, to finalise the reports in order to ensure detailed and precise conclusions and a speedy transmission. We hope that all these efforts will be appreciated by those to whom this report is addressed.

Salme Ahlström and Jean-Pol Tassin
Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, Scientific Committee of the EMCDDA