Malta has finally criminalised the notorious drug flakka - also known as the zombie drug, as well as other synthetic drugs.

Flakka is made from a compound called alpha-PVP, a chemical cousin of cathinone, which is the amphetamine-like drug found in bath salts. Flakka has many side effects, including behavioural and mood changes, jerking muscle movements, delirious thoughts, and paranoia.

The newly introduced legal notices attempt to clamp down on the legal high phenomenon, which has risen in recent years.  Government published a number of legal notices relating to the criminalisation of such drugs.

On 3 September, this newsroom reported that the Home Affairs and Health Ministries are currently discussing introducing the concept of making whole classes of compounds illegal unless specific products are deemed legal. This, the Health Ministry had informed The Malta Independent on Sunday, will allow the authorities to clamp down on new, dangerous synthetic drugs as soon as they appear on the local scene.

Such plans would help the police outlaw dangerous substances more quickly.

Malta's law enforcement authorities are often hampered when it comes to dealing with the blight of synthetic drugs by the fact that, as soon as a particular drug is legislated against, a new, slightly modified, version appears which, technically, is not illegal. This problem could be resolved by making whole classes of compounds illegal, the health ministry had said.