Had a small discussion about the new legal party drug, mephedrone, in another thread so I thought I'd start one here. I have a couple of articles that take different approaches to the increasing popularity of mephedrone, one from the Times and another from the Sun. Even if you're not interested in the actual story its interesting to see the different appraoches the two papers have.
Drugs are on my mind this week — and on my doorstep. After a night out clubbing, my two daughters, aged 19 and 20, tell me that the stimulant Meow Meow has arrived in the area, and if it has reached our sleepy market town in the Cotswolds then I suspect it is in your neighbourhood as well.
Meow Meow (mephedrone) is easily, and legally, bought over the internet where it is often advertised as plant feed. When taken as a tablet, or snorted as a powder, it gives a similar high to Ecstasy and abuse has taken off in the UK over the past couple of years.
The drug is likely to be one of the first items on the agenda for Professor Les Iversen*, the Government’s new drugs czar. Other “legal highs” such as BZP (a derivative of a worming agent) and GBL (paint stripper) have now been reclassified as Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but mephedrone — and a similar drug, salvia or “herbal ecstasy” (the leaves of the Mexican plant Salvia divinorum) — are now under review.
In the meantime, should parents be worried about Meow Meow?
Not a lot is known about the drug. It has been linked to one death so far in the UK — a 14-year old girl who took it at a party near Brighton — and there have been a number of people admitted to hospital with bizarre side-effects, including a teenage boy, who is reported to have had such severe hallucinations that he ripped off his scrotum.
It is difficult to put these reports in context without knowing how many people are using mephedrone and how they are taking it. It is not unusual for legal highs to be taken with copious amounts of alcohol and/or other drugs, including ketamine (known as Milton Keynes when mixed with mephedrone). Add in the inevitable variations in quality that occur with any black market drug, and it is very difficult to find out what people are actually taking.
Users of Meow Meow report an amphetamine-type euphoria that comes with mental and physical stimulation, talkativeness and feelings of empathy. Physical changes include dilated pupils, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, flushing and goose bumps.
And, despite the scrotum ripping story, most don’t report any significant hallucinations.
The effects start to become noticeable within half an hour of taking a tablet or within a couple of minutes of snorting the drug and last for anything up to four hours (less if snorted).
The downside includes a strong desire to take more, rapid changes in body temperature (sweating or chills), paranoia, palpitations, panic attacks and muscle spasms. A hangover the next morning tends not to be too much of a problem and it is not known whether Meow Meow is addictive — although a number of cases have started to trickle through into NHS drug treatment centres.
Although it is now legal to take the drug, it is illegal to supply it for human consumption which is why most suppliers advertise it as “plant food”. A Google search revealed more than 52,000 hits for the drug in the UK. I have advised my daughters to steer clear of the stuff (although both are at university and well past the age where they take too much notice of what I say).
Even if Meow Meow is comparatively safe, there is always the worry that it could be the start of a slippery slope. The evidence that legal highs, or “soft” drugs such as cannabis, lead to an inexorable path to more dangerous substances such as heroin, is patchy. It may in some, but will not in most.
Only time will tell how how risky mephedrone abuse really is. Many young people regard today’s concerns as propaganda, but it took decades to discover that cocaine (which used to be legal and an ingredient in Coca-Cola) is nowhere near as harmless as many users still believe.
A recent study in Spain into nearly 700 sudden deaths found that cocaine was responsible for around 1 in 30 of them — all of them in people under 45.
Drug abuse is endemic. If your son or daughter has not experimented with at least one drug then I guarantee that he or she will be mixing with people who have. But while drug abuse may be every parent’s nightmare, the vast majority of young people who try them will emerge unscathed from their dabbling.
And while focusing on drugs we risk looking past the dangers of alcohol. It may be only natural to worry about your child trying drugs, but the most dangerous one of all, in terms of its impact on the nation’s health, is both legal and freely available. And, unlike Meow Meow, likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
*In a rather confusing move, the Government sacked the widely respected David Nutt as its key adviser on drugs after he questioned the tightening of legislation on cannabis — only to replace him with someone who once called for its legalisation.
A LEGAL drug known as 'meow meow' led one lad to rip off his own SCROTUM, police said today.
The lad hallucinated for 18 hours and mutilated himself because he believed centipedes were crawling over his body and biting him.
Cops warned people to stay away from the drug Mephedrone which is sold legally on the internet as PLANT FERTILISER.
Its chemical formula is one molecule different to ecstasy and as such dealers are claiming is not a controlled substance.
It is more commonly known on the streets as "drone", "bubble", "meow meow" or "legal high".
Durham Police are warning that its use can result in severe nose bleeds, nose burns, hallucinations, blood circulation problems, rashes, anxiety and paranoia, fits, delusions and can lead to a heart attack.
But a police report - some of which was based on online forums about the drug - revealed a lad in Durham had tried to rip off his testicles after taking it.
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The Durham Police report states: "A large number of contributors state how addictive mephedrone is and they are constantly topping up as one individual states that after using it for 18 hours his hallucinations led him to believe that centipedes were crawling over him and biting him.
"This led him to receive hospital treatment after he ripped his scrotum off."
Cops warned the drug can also become addictive and taken with alcohol or cut with other drugs it could result in death.
Police said five young people had been admitted to hospital in County Durham in recent weeks after taking mephedrone.
In Sweden an 18-year-old died from taking the drug and it has now been banned there, as well as Israel, Norway and Finland.
Long story short - new party drug very similar to ecstasy is being sold over the internet as ''plant food'' and ''not for human consumption''. Its entirely legal and inexpensive. However its explosion in popularity has led to the usual horror stories of self mutilation and deaths of those on the drug. However its hard to completely determine what the effects of the drug actually are because there are so many differing factors that determine how it effects you.
The problem with banning it is that the chemists who make it can just change it slightly and it will have similar (although possibly more damaging) effects and be legal. In the US legislation apparently bans substances that have effects ''similar'' to already banned drugs. Maybe thats the solution, but it is very broad.
Opinions? Should it be banned, if so, how? More broadly, how do we deal with the problem of dangerous legal drugs?
Causing visual hallucinations combined with mental dissociation---sounds like it'll be banned.
As for this Meow-Meow, sounds like it'll be banned as well. Sounds potentially an anti-depressant if in very low dose, so possibly move to being resynthesized and legally approved in a modified form.
And no, I don't think banning all new substances due to possible pharmacological effects will work. Banning marketing of substances prior to clinical studies, is of course already in effect (FDA).
I don't really have a problem legalising all drugs really and letting people decide whether or not to kill themselves. Put an age limit on it and then see what happens, surely it would reduce the crime levels in the country whilst also giving the government a whole lot more tax to play with.
So i don't think it should be banned but if other stuff which has been banned is still banned then this should be do, there is no doubting the fact that it sends you mental. It is definitely the new E in terms of growing popularity, especially as it is quite new as well. I'd never really heard about it till the middle of last year.
I don't really have a problem legalising all drugs really and letting people decide whether or not to kill themselves. Put an age limit on it and then see what happens, surely it would reduce the crime levels in the country whilst also giving the government a whole lot more tax to play with.
So i don't think it should be banned but if other stuff which has been banned is still banned then this should be do, there is no doubting the fact that it sends you mental. It is definitely the new E in terms of growing popularity, especially as it is quite new as well. I'd never really heard about it till the middle of last year.
You don't let anyone drunk operate heavy machinery whilst alcohol causes public disturbances. Tbh quite a lot of drugs cause the opposite of public disturbances as no-one goes out.
I had some of this gear six months ago, kind of by accident. I thought my mate said "herbal ecstasy" and thought it would be nothing, but he said "legal ecstasy" in the sense of "they havent had time to make it illegal yet".
Basically it's like dirty ecstasy. Very similar but with wird mood swings and an emotionally savage come down. Hate to think what would happen if you took a significant amount. And it's just completely idiotic that this is legal while MDMA is illegial.
Had a small discussion about the new legal party drug, mephedrone, in another thread so I thought I'd start one here. I have a couple of articles that take different approaches to the increasing popularity of mephedrone, one from the Times and another from the Sun. Even if you're not interested in the actual story its interesting to see the different appraoches the two papers have.
Drugs are on my mind this week and on my doorstep. After a night out clubbing, my two daughters, aged 19 and 20, tell me that the stimulant Meow Meow has arrived in the area, and if it has reached our sleepy market town in the Cotswolds then I suspect it is in your neighbourhood as well.
Meow Meow (mephedrone) is easily, and legally, bought over the internet where it is often advertised as plant feed. When taken as a tablet, or snorted as a powder, it gives a similar high to Ecstasy and abuse has taken off in the UK over the past couple of years.
The drug is likely to be one of the first items on the agenda for Professor Les Iversen*, the Governments new drugs czar. Other legal highs such as BZP (a derivative of a worming agent) and GBL (paint stripper) have now been reclassified as Class C drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act, but mephedrone and a similar drug, salvia or herbal ecstasy (the leaves of the Mexican plant Salvia divinorum) are now under review.
In the meantime, should parents be worried about Meow Meow?
Not a lot is known about the drug. It has been linked to one death so far in the UK a 14-year old girl who took it at a party near Brighton and there have been a number of people admitted to hospital with bizarre side-effects, including a teenage boy, who is reported to have had such severe hallucinations that he ripped off his scrotum.
It is difficult to put these reports in context without knowing how many people are using mephedrone and how they are taking it. It is not unusual for legal highs to be taken with copious amounts of alcohol and/or other drugs, including ketamine (known as Milton Keynes when mixed with mephedrone). Add in the inevitable variations in quality that occur with any black market drug, and it is very difficult to find out what people are actually taking.
Users of Meow Meow report an amphetamine-type euphoria that comes with mental and physical stimulation, talkativeness and feelings of empathy. Physical changes include dilated pupils, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, flushing and goose bumps.
And, despite the scrotum ripping story, most dont report any significant hallucinations.
The effects start to become noticeable within half an hour of taking a tablet or within a couple of minutes of snorting the drug and last for anything up to four hours (less if snorted).
The downside includes a strong desire to take more, rapid changes in body temperature (sweating or chills), paranoia, palpitations, panic attacks and muscle spasms. A hangover the next morning tends not to be too much of a problem and it is not known whether Meow Meow is addictive although a number of cases have started to trickle through into NHS drug treatment centres.
Although it is now legal to take the drug, it is illegal to supply it for human consumption which is why most suppliers advertise it as plant food. A Google search revealed more than 52,000 hits for the drug in the UK. I have advised my daughters to steer clear of the stuff (although both are at university and well past the age where they take too much notice of what I say).
Even if Meow Meow is comparatively safe, there is always the worry that it could be the start of a slippery slope. The evidence that legal highs, or soft drugs such as cannabis, lead to an inexorable path to more dangerous substances such as heroin, is patchy. It may in some, but will not in most.
Only time will tell how how risky mephedrone abuse really is. Many young people regard todays concerns as propaganda, but it took decades to discover that cocaine (which used to be legal and an ingredient in Coca-Cola) is nowhere near as harmless as many users still believe.
A recent study in Spain into nearly 700 sudden deaths found that cocaine was responsible for around 1 in 30 of them all of them in people under 45.
Drug abuse is endemic. If your son or daughter has not experimented with at least one drug then I guarantee that he or she will be mixing with people who have. But while drug abuse may be every parents nightmare, the vast majority of young people who try them will emerge unscathed from their dabbling.
And while focusing on drugs we risk looking past the dangers of alcohol. It may be only natural to worry about your child trying drugs, but the most dangerous one of all, in terms of its impact on the nations health, is both legal and freely available. And, unlike Meow Meow, likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
*In a rather confusing move, the Government sacked the widely respected David Nutt as its key adviser on drugs after he questioned the tightening of legislation on cannabis only to replace him with someone who once called for its legalisation.
A LEGAL drug known as 'meow meow' led one lad to rip off his own SCROTUM, police said today.
The lad hallucinated for 18 hours and mutilated himself because he believed centipedes were crawling over his body and biting him.
Cops warned people to stay away from the drug Mephedrone which is sold legally on the internet as PLANT FERTILISER.
Its chemical formula is one molecule different to ecstasy and as such dealers are claiming is not a controlled substance.
It is more commonly known on the streets as "drone", "bubble", "meow meow" or "legal high".
Durham Police are warning that its use can result in severe nose bleeds, nose burns, hallucinations, blood circulation problems, rashes, anxiety and paranoia, fits, delusions and can lead to a heart attack.
But a police report - some of which was based on online forums about the drug - revealed a lad in Durham had tried to rip off his testicles after taking it.
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The Durham Police report states: "A large number of contributors state how addictive mephedrone is and they are constantly topping up as one individual states that after using it for 18 hours his hallucinations led him to believe that centipedes were crawling over him and biting him.
"This led him to receive hospital treatment after he ripped his scrotum off."
Cops warned the drug can also become addictive and taken with alcohol or cut with other drugs it could result in death.
Police said five young people had been admitted to hospital in County Durham in recent weeks after taking mephedrone.
In Sweden an 18-year-old died from taking the drug and it has now been banned there, as well as Israel, Norway and Finland.
Long story short - new party drug very similar to ecstasy is being sold over the internet as ''plant food'' and ''not for human consumption''. Its entirely legal and inexpensive. However its explosion in popularity has led to the usual horror stories of self mutilation and deaths of those on the drug. However its hard to completely determine what the effects of the drug actually are because there are so many differing factors that determine how it effects you.
The problem with banning it is that the chemists who make it can just change it slightly and it will have similar (although possibly more damaging) effects and be legal. In the US legislation apparently bans substances that have effects ''similar'' to already banned drugs. Maybe thats the solution, but it is very broad.
Opinions? Should it be banned, if so, how? More broadly, how do we deal with the problem of dangerous legal drugs?
Once its banned prices are sure to go up, so yes I would recommend it. Hey if you could buy a lot now when prices are still low you can make a tidy profit once its banned.
People's desire to alter their mind will always outpace the state's ability to legislate it. A few deaths and a kid freaking out and cutting his balls off *crosses legs and shivers* isn't reason alone to ban something. If enough people put XYZ into their body, some very small minority will have horrible reactions... just like every FDA approved drug out there.
I'm not sure that's why they want to ban but more because it is effectively taking MDMA which is already banned, except they know far more about the consequences of MDMA than drone.
*In a rather confusing move, the Government sacked the widely respected David Nutt as its key adviser on drugs after he questioned the tightening of legislation on cannabis only to replace him with someone who once called for its legalisation.
I had some of this gear six months ago, kind of by accident. I thought my mate said "herbal ecstasy" and thought it would be nothing, but he said "legal ecstasy" in the sense of "they havent had time to make it illegal yet".
Basically it's like dirty ecstasy. Very similar but with wird mood swings and an emotionally savage come down. Hate to think what would happen if you took a significant amount. And it's just completely idiotic that this is legal while MDMA is illegial.
Once its banned prices are sure to go up, so yes I would recommend it. Hey if you could buy a lot now when prices are still low you can make a tidy profit once its banned.
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