[(Title)] Scientists fail to keep up with ever-evolving synthetic drugs.

The rapid evolution of new types of designer drugs is leaving New Zealand's scientists battling to keep on top of the illicit products being brought across our borders.

新型设计药物迅速演变使新西兰的科学家们不得不奋力应对非法产品带来的影响。

Between 2009 and 2016, new substances were being reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at a rate of about one a week.

在2009年至2016年期间，正在以大约每周1例的速度向联合国毒品和犯罪问题办公室报告新的物质。

New Zealand's Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) alone identified more than 120 new designer drugs and said those being seized as recently as a year ago were rarely seen now, having been replaced by variants.

仅新西兰环境科学与研究所（ESR）就查明了120多种新的配方药物，并说一年前被缉获的药物现在很少见到，已被衍生药品所代替。

One of the organisation's senior scientists, Cameron Johnson, said the organisation had been working with the University of Auckland, which had sophisticated instruments to identify new drugs.

该组织的高级科学家之一卡梅伦·约翰逊表示，该组织一直在与奥克兰大学合作，该大学拥有先进的仪器识别新药物。

"The availability of these new substances online or through the dark net means they can be bought so readily."

“这些新品药物在网上或通过暗网的供应，意味着可以很轻易地购买"。

Mr Johnson said a lot of new designer drugs were made to mimic more traditional ones such as ecstasy which created problems not limited to law enforcement.

约翰逊表示，制作了大量新配方药物是为了模仿更为传统的药物，如摇头丸，这造成了执法方面的问题。

"Whether that's more potency, more toxicity, it's just largely unknown because they haven't been around for long and haven't undergone the same trials."

“它们是否更有效，更具毒性，这基本上还是未知数，因为它们才刚刚被合成不久，没有经过长时间的试验。”

The worldwide scientific community was good at communicating with each other about new substances, he said.

他说，全球科学界非常擅长于相互交流关于新物质的信息。

"We're all facing the same sorts of challenges so everyone is very keen to help each other out and ... putting the data out there so that other labs can access it and compare their results to what's being seen elsewhere around the world.

“我们都面临着同样的挑战，所以每个人都非常热衷于互相帮助......并将数据公开出来，以便其他实验室可以获取它们并将其结果与世界其他地方的结果进行比较。”

National Drug Intelligence Bureau manager John O'Keefe said he was confident the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Psychoactive Substances Act enabled new drugs to be classified correctly.

国家毒品情报局局长JohnO'Keefe说，他对《药物滥用法》和《精神活性物质法》充满信心，它们使得新药被正确分类。

A number of the new designer drugs marketed as MDMA or ecstasy, but stronger, were more dangerous.

一些新合成的药物被标识为MDMA或摇头丸，但是药效更强，更危险。

"Then they're getting a drug that is not what they expect, in a higher dosage - a totally different drug that will have numerous side effects, psychological effects and will cause them to become ill."

"然后他们服用的药物不是他们期望的，剂量更高----一种完全不同的药物，能够产生许多副作用、影响心理并导致他们生病。”

It was a case of "buyer beware" when it came to the new drugs, Mr O'Keefe said.

奥基夫说，新药属于“买方要当心”的类型。

Customs acting manager of northern ports Brent Litherland said a lot of new drugs came through the Auckland Mail Centre.

北港海关代理主管布伦特·利特兰表示，许多新药是通过奥克兰邮件中心运来的。

Its "first defender" tool - a laser which can identify substances in seconds - was great for identifying known drugs.

它的“第一卫士”工具——一种能够在几秒内识别物质的激光器——对识别已知药物具有很大的价值。

"But a lot of those we're starting to see are the unknowns. They've chemically adjusted the drug and if we can't identify it then we refer it off to ESR who we're fortunate to have a good relationship with.

“但我们开始看到的很多药品都是未知的。他们调整了药物的化学成分，如果我们不能识别它，那么我们把它转给ESR，我们幸运地与ESR有良好的关系。

Mr Litherland had a simple message for those trying to bring illicit substances into the country: Don't.

利特兰先生向那些试图将非法药物带入该国的人传达了一个简单的信息：不。

"It's not what you think it is. These drugs are not manufactured in safe environments."

“这些药物不是在安全的环境中制造的。”