Designer drugs are slightly altered imitations of known, dangerous drugs. They are synthesized, or formed, in laboratories and are designed to produce effects similar to the drugs they imitate. Examples include drugs like amphetamine and methamphetamine, such as MDA, MDMA (known as "ecstasy"), TMA, and MDE (also called "Eve"), or MBDB. Designer drugs are illegal and created solely for the purpose of recreational drug use. Although the goals are different, the process of creating designer drugs resembles the process of developing new and better drugs for medical purposes. This process applies the principles of basic chemistry to change the structure of a drug molecule. Many useful new drugs or changes in older drugs have resulted in improved health care.

Designer drug use in the United States increased in the 1990s, but arrests for designer drug use also sharply increased during the same time period.

The people...