Les cathinones : qu'en sait-on aujourd'hui ?

The emergence of new psychoactive drugs is due to the supposed similar effects from 'copied' substances and also, in particular cases, to a legal alternative of controlled substances. This first paper deals with cathinones and synthetic cathinones. Different topics as structural properties, pharmacokinetics, modes of consumption, identification and quantification methods as well as legislation issues will be discussed. The scientific literature is reviewed until March 2013, resulting in a summary of the reported effects related to the use of those substances. In conclusion, risks involved by the use of synthetic cathinones are not yet well established. New synthetic cathinones launched on the market represent a potential public health problem and force the scientists to continually develop new sensitive analytical methods to assure their identification and quantification.