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Mephedrone: pre-ban vs. post-ban vs. analogues [research]

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squid30

Greenlighter
Joined
Jul 2, 2012
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11
Hi Bluelighters, long-time lurker here.

The distinction between "pre-ban" and post-ban mephedrone is made everywhere mephedrone is discussed, but has this been "gotten to the bottom of"?
I never had pre-ban mephedrone and wasn't even aware of its existence until about a year ago. I was surprised by how close/similar it is to MDMA/MDA, only of much shorter duration.

I've had 3 different batches from different vendors of it so far. The first one was a yellow/orange-ish fine crystalline powder, the second was the same color but larger crystals, and the third is large white crystals and sticky smaller crystals (similar to this). The third one, though it tastes and feels (in the nose) like the previous two batches and has some kind of serotonergic effect (plus DA/NE), is nowhere near as powerful/good as the first two. The serotonergic effect means it's not 3-MMC. Could it be 4-MEC?

For all you mephedrone fans out there who keep up to date with the RC and MDxx substitutes scene(s), I would like to ask: Have we figured this out yet? Do we know why post-ban mephedrone is universally(?) regarded as not as good as pre-ban?

Do we have lab data from post-ban samples?

I assume pre-ban was very pure mephedrone. Does it make sense to think that most post-ban mephedrone batches use a different synth method, and therefore somehow the molecule, even if it's structurally 4-MMC, doesn't have the exact same properties due to some factor like 3D structure, SAR, lipophilicity, ...? Or does this idea denote biochemical ignorance?

What about its chirality? Do some synths create more of one stereoisomer over another rather than a 50/50 racemic compound?

I await to hear from the most advanced drugs discussion forum on the planet about this mystery!
 
You've finally convinced me to stop lurking.
Pre ban mephedrone was awesome - but a lot of that high was due to it's time and space.
A train ride to a chemist in London and cutting lines out on the (nearly) packed train gives a high that is unlike any other.
Now there are several things sold as drone, with rice crystals more prevalent. They can give similiar effects, but of course nothing will be like the old times - cut may be introduced, or other analogues (http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/526934-Closest-mephedrone-analogues-possibly-legal) of mephedrone used.
 
The pre-ban cylinder crystal you had to smash to dust to use from India were amazing. I believe tested at 99.9% purity. I didn't get half the side effects everyone reported from it (still hard on the heart but I had other batches and had worse tachycardia with those) and it was amazing but the addiction factor... Ugh. Buddy gave me 50g free in trade for 250mg AMT and I went nuts with it. Glad it's gone, it cost me a lot.
 
Pre-ban mephedrone (4-MMC) wasn't necessarily just mephedrone. Various pills and powders also contained various piperazines, which definitely affect the high. Actually a lot of compounds were put into mixtures to make them weigh more (vitamins, supplements, paracetamol etc.).

3-MMC and 4-MMC are produced from precursors which are positional isomers (just like 3-MMC and 4-MMC are positional isomers). In reality, tech grade precursor to mephedrone also contains up to 10% of the precursor to 3-MMC, so when you do the synthesis, you end up with a mixture of 4-MMC and 3-MMC. That's what likely was the pre-ban mephedrone made on a large scale in China. 3-MMC is similar to mephedrone, however, it's more stimulatory and less entactogenic (likely due to higher DA/5-HT ratio vs. 4-MMC just as is observed comparing 3-methylamphetamine and 4-methylamphetamine), so a small addition of it to 4-MMC should make it produce more of a "rush". I've seen people reporting that more pure mephedrone was much more laid-back than Chinese mephedrone before the ban. Also, 3-MMC does release serotonin, it definitely feels much more like mephedrone than methcathinone.

Perhaps one can still get mephedrone in some places, but in many places where it was legally possible it was simply substituted with 3-MMC which has been successful on its own too. 4-MEC, 4-EMC and other similar analogues don't come close to mephedrone as they all lack dopaminergic effects and simply feel dull, but they're often passed under mephedrone nicknames anyway. Most of "post-ban mephedrone" is not mephedrone at all if it's legal.
 
So what you're saying is that those pure-looking large white crystals (my 3rd batch) may be real 4-MMC, and that "pre-ban mephedrone" was a mixture of 4-MMC and 3-MMC?

It makes sense that methcathinone would be methylated in more than one position if using an unspecific synth method, or if more than one precursor is used. However, that seems counter-intuitive to me because the first two batches of mephedrone I had (which were advertized as "pre-ban" and were yellow/orange-ish small crystals with a mild peculiar smell) had a much stronger serotonergic effect, or at least that's how I interpret it.

I will try a 3rd batch mephedrone + 3-MMC combo and report back. ;)


PS.: Should this thread be in the ADD forum? (if so, I'd appreciate if a moderator could move it - TIA)
 
I won't attempt guessing what you may have as it's against the rules, there's no way anyone could tell you for sure via internet what you have. I know from my own experience that 3-MMC does release serotonin, it may even feel sleepy at times especially after oral administration. It's hard to guess how exactly it differs from 4-MMC in regard to dopamine and serotonin release, it's definitely more of an "empathogen" than a plain stimulant, but it generally feels like a watered-down version of pre-ban 4-MMC with less intense euphoria/empathy and less intense kick.

I think that pre-ban mephedrone was a ~90:10 mixture of 4-MMC and 3-MMC because that's how pure technical grade precursor to 4-MMC is on average and the remainder is the precursor to 3-MMC. Given the hype and popularity of mephedrone it wouldn't pay off for a large scale manufacturer to buy a pure precursor and even more so to clean tech grade precursor.
 
Could 10% 3-MMC really make mephedrone so much more powerful (and potent)? Seems unlikely. I happen to have both so I will try some combinations, starting at 70:30.
 
Uuuh...

How good where those pioneering times back in early 2008 for me...
That 6th of april the postman delivered me a package containing 100 g of 4-MMC, safely triple-bagged.
As I was tearing through the bags, the smell became more and more intense... it reminded me of that contact cleaner oil spray (for switches, etc.)
Nothing could prepare me for the mind-blowing experience of that evening... 8(
Nothing could prepare me for the unbelievable experiences and powers soon I was to discover!
And what memories! %)

Cheers
 
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