[The comprehensive investigation of the new psychoactive substances]

This article was designed to discuss the issues related to ensuring the methodological uniformity of investigations of the novel psychoactive substances based on the system of the newly established specialized laboratories. The authors propose the methodological approaches to the implementation of comprehensive chemical and pharmacological research including chemical, biological, and sociological studies. The main specific features of these approaches are the use of laboratory animals and the automation of in vivo experiments. Also, we discuss the use of the concrete results of the computational experiments designed to elucidate the parameters responsible for the chemical similarity of psychoactive substances. The mechanisms of their action are considered. The special emphasis is placed on the necessity of close cooperation between scientific and expert communities with a view to accumulation of the data on the newly developed and potentially harmful psychoactive substances as a basis for the efficacious prevention of their illegal trafficking.