EU-wide processes to identify and ban harmful synthetic drugs will soon be streamlined, following an agreement reached between the Maltese EU Council presidency and European Parliament. 

The informal agreement will cut red tape linked to assessing the potential negative effects of new substances which appear on the market, as well as halve the time, from 12 to six months, for member states to implement EU decisions. 

So-called 'legal highs' have EU legislators worried, having flooded European markets over the past decade. Last February, Times of Malta reported that up to half of all drugs seized by police were a form of copycat drug. 

"With these new rules, the EU will provide a faster and more effective response. We will be able to drastically reduce the time needed to assess and possibly decide on an EU-wide ban of new psychoactive substances," said Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela. 

Following today's agreement, the texts will now be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the EU Council in the coming months before coming into force. 

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