New designer drugs: FDHA brings further psychoactive substances under control
Bern, 10.11.2026 — New synthetic drugs pose considerable health risks – consumers cannot assess the consequences of taking them. To combat these designer drugs effectively, the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) is adding further substances to the Narcotics List Ordinance with effect from 10 November 2026. This makes them subject to the Narcotics Act: their manufacture, trade and use are illegal.
Since the chemical structure of synthetic drugs is continually being modified, new variants are constantly appearing on the market. While few established findings are available on their effect, toxicity, addiction potential or interactions, because these substances show similarities to existing controlled substances it must be assumed that they pose considerable health risks.
Therefore, with effect from 10 November 2026, two individual substances and one substance group are being added to List e in Annex 6 of the Narcotics List Ordinance. As a result, new psychoactive substances can be brought under control and their spread curbed at an early stage. At the same time, this should also prevent Switzerland becoming a transshipment centre for the trade in designer drugs.
The list has been updated at the request of Swissmedic, the Swiss agency for Therapeutic Products. Together with national and international partner authorities, Swissmedic constantly monitors new synthetic substances and substance classes that appear on the market and assesses whether they are being abused.
Since December 2011, List e (“Raw materials and products with suspected narcotic-like effects”) is regularly updated with new substances. Following these latest additions, the list now includes 323 individual substances and substance groups.