Why the latest party drug brings new dangers [UK]

[rickolasnice]

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/dear-miriam/

Why the latest party drug brings new dangers
By Miriam Stoppard on Feb 1, 10 12:11 AM in Advice


Not so long ago most recreational drugs were known quantities that had been first used in medicine in some form.

Heroin is a derivative of morphine, the most powerful painkiller there is.

Cocaine was once used as an anaesthetic, while ecstasy was used briefly in couples therapy, and amphetamines in some slimming drugs.

But now a new drug called mephedrone, created in a backstreet lab just for recreational purposes, is catching on quickly.

Not to be confused with heroin substitute methadone, it's also known as meph, miaow, bubbles and m-cat.

Virtually unknown in the UK a couple of years ago, a recent online survey by researchers at London's National Addiction Centre revealed that, out of 2,000 readers of clubbing magazine Mixmag, one in three had used the drug in the past month.

Misguided appeal Perhaps this isn't surprising. It costs around £10 a gram and the quality of other recreational drugs has been in steep decline.

Police found recently-seized "cocaine" contained just 15% of the real thing with the rest made up of anything from brick dust to anaesthetic.

But there's another reason for its attraction which I find more disturbing. It's legal to possess it, giving naive would-be users the impression that it must be safe.

That's a very dangerous assumption to make. This drug is so new we know very little about it and its effects.

Because it contains chemicals that have never before been used as drugs, no tests have been carried out to show they are safe.

And there hasn't been enough time for any serious long-term health problems to come to light.

Neither do we know much about how it reacts with other drugs, including alcohol.

Anyone taking it is effectively offering themselves as a lab rat in an unofficial experiment.

Although it's not legal to advertise or sell it for human consumption, cunning online vendors get around the law by labelling it as "plant food".

What we know In the UK, increasing reports of dangerous side effects, some of which have put users in hospital, has led to a review by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which I hope will result in a ban some time this year.

I accept that some people will still take it but it may deter those who mistakenly believe that it's safe because it's legal.

Mephedrone is already illegal in Sweden, Denmark, Israel and Germany, while similar investigation into other party drugs GBL, BZP and Spice resulted in a ban in December 2009.

In the Mixmag survey, half of users reported headaches, four in 10 had heart palpitations, more than a quarter were nauseous, and others had blue fingers, suggesting their circulation had been badly affected.

According to charity Drugscope users have also reported nose bleeds and sore throats as a result of snorting the drug, along with blurred vision, hot flushes, muscle tension, hallucinations, paranoia, compulsion to take more and possible psychological addiction.

What exactly is it?

Mephedrone is a stimulant, derived from cathinone, a chemical found in a plant called khat which comes from Africa.

Chemically it's related to amphetamines and has a similar effect to ecstasy, making users feel euphoric, alert, chatty and generally well disposed towards others.

However, besides the side effects already mentioned, the main downside of amphetamine-based chemicals is that they may overstimulate the heart and nervous system, leading to fits.


3 THAT WERE BANNED RECENTLY
These drugs became illegal in December 2009:

(1)GBL (Gamma-butyrolactone) Dubbed "coma in a bottle", it's a chemical solvent originally devised for use as a paint stripper. It has an ecstasy-like effect and is potentially very easy to overdose on as it comes in liquid form. It's also especially dangerous mixed with alcohol and has been associated with several deaths. As a class C drug, it's illegal to possess, sell or give away.

(2)BZP (Benzylpiperazine) A class C drug, it's made from piperazine, a de-worming agent for animals. It comes in pill form, has an ecstasy-like effect and can also cause seizures. It's particularly dangerous mixed with other drugs and alcohol.

(3)Spice This smoking mix contains compounds that mimic the effects of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. Not much is known about its long-term effects yet but it's feared that it may carry the same risks of long-term psychotic illness as real cannabis. It's also illegal to have, sell or give away but because it's a class B drug (like cannabis), it carries tougher sentences.

WHAT PARENTS CAN DO..

● Get informed: Find out as much as you can about drugs. Visit www.talktofrank.com, the government's drugs information and advice website, and encourage your teens to do so too. You can also get confidential advice on the helpline (0800 776 600).

● Discuss the dangers: Point out these drugs contain untested chemicals and haven't been around long enough for long-term effects to be known. Plus, like all illegal recreational drugs, chemical make-up changes all the time so they really don't know what they're taking.

● Give safety advice: Teens often go against parents' wishes and may be tempted to take drugs. Warn them that mixing drugs, including with alcohol, increases risk. Make sure they always have a phone with them, and they shouldn't hesitate to call you (and emergency services) if anything goes wrong.

Read this in the paper today..

 

[ascend337]

Mephedrone sounds real interesting. The DEA does not list it either as a controlled substance... I wonder if it qualifies as an analogue. Anybody tried this stuff?

 

[seep]

Mephedrone sounds real interesting. The DEA does not list it either as a controlled substance... I wonder if it qualifies as an analogue.

It's an analogue of methcathinone, which is schedule 1.

 

[ascend337]

Ah, but of course... well, I wonder why "they" just don't schedule every substance known to man globally..... oh, well, sounded interesting anyway. Thanks for the info.

 

[Coolio]

It's an analogue of methcathinone, which is schedule 1.

Seeing as it doesn't have a substantially similar or greater stimulant effect than methcathinone, I don't see how it could possibly be considered an analog under the FAA. Do you have a counterpoint?

 

[theotherside]

Mephedrone is EVERYWHERE in the US as of the last few months. It used to be available via import, but now it is blowing up here. I have already run into a street dealer selling it calling it "New coke". These articles are appearing almost daily!

 

[ascend337]

Seeing as it doesn't have a substantially similar or greater stimulant effect than methcathinone, I don't see how it could possibly be considered an analog under the FAA. Do you have a counterpoint?

I agree, I did a bunch of online research today (including on the DEA website for their laboratory guys....). Unless sold for human consumption, it is still considered legal and not scheduled. However, this may be considered a precurser (regulated) chemical:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c101:1:./temp/~c1016LOUKH:e216958:/
and http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/schedules/orangebook/f_chemlist_alpha.pdf

Methylamine and its salts, isomers, etc are listed (have been since 1991).

My thoughts are that since
Mephedrone = 2-methylamino-1-p-tolylpropan-1-one
maybe it is a "methylamine" salt or something... I am no chemist though... (does methylamino = anything related to methylamine)

Can anybody opine about that?

Here's a good article too: http://hubpages.com/hub/Mephedrone NOTE: only if sold for human consumption would it be illegal as an analogue. I'm not really interested at all in selling it... I just want to test it out and see what it is like and if it is legal for me to possess it... all the much better. That's what I'd like to know.

 

[seep]

Seeing as it doesn't have a substantially similar or greater stimulant effect than methcathinone, I don't see how it could possibly be considered an analog under the FAA. Do you have a counterpoint?

I've seen at least one anecdote on BL of an American prosecuted for mephedrone, but I don't know if this is part of any central strategy or just a fluke.

Anyway, it's unquestionably a structural analogue of at least two schedule 1's: cathinone and methcathinone. I don't know that it's necessary to establish a verisimilitude of subjective effects. The way I'm interpreting the text of the law, mephedrone would classify as a Controlled-Substance Analog if any of the following are true:

1) Mephedrone's stimulatory effect is substantially similar to that of either cathinone or methcathinone.
2) mephedrone's stimulatory effect is superior in intensity to that of either cathinone or methcathinone.
3) In the case of a dealer, mephedrone is promoted as having an effect more intense than either cathinone or methcathinone could plausibly have.
4) In the case of a user, mephedrone is perceived as having an effect more intense than either cathinone or methcathinone could plausibly have.

I'm basing my reasoning on the syntax in boldface:

(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), the term controlled substance analogue means a substance -

(i) the chemical structure of which is substantially similar to the chemical structure of a controlled substance in schedule I or II;
(ii) which has a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to or greater than the stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system of a controlled substance in schedule I or II; or
(iii) with respect to a particular person, which such person represents or intends to have a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system that is substantially similar to or greater than the stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system of a controlled substance in schedule I or II.​

 

[ascend337]

Good post. Generally, I would agree, but I think due to the hazy-ness of the FAA, if one were to market and sell it in powder form as a plant food (as they do in UK, etc) and not in say a pill form (that can only be legally assumed to be intended for human consumption), then perhaps it would be legal to sell.... again, though... I am only interested in whether I can legally possess it as a "plant food"

I saw on DEA website two articles where pills were sent to their labs to confirm MDMA, but instead they found Mephedrone... the dealers were still prosecuted though because the pills were sold as counterfeit MDMA and because in pill form they were inferred to be sold for human consumption. I have found no other cases where in the powder form a person was prosecuted (but of course that doesn't mean a case like that isn't out there somewhere).

 

[seep]

^go saints!

 

[ascend337]

^go saints!

Haha, GEAUX SAINTS, indeed!

 

[ascend337]

Here's another question, why does one have to use so much of it? Seems the average use amount per time is around 7g. 150mg of MDMA is a good dose... why so much of Mephedrone is needed?

 

[Coolio]

It's addictive and causes compulsive redosing, like cocaine. The high is soooo short, you're just constantly chasing it.

 

[7zark7]

Here's another question, why does one have to use so much of it? Seems the average use amount per time is around 7g. 150mg of MDMA is a good dose... why so much of Mephedrone is needed?

Where are you getting that 7g figure from?

 

[rickolasnice]

x2 ^..

That's just bs..

 

[monstanoodle]

You definitely don't need 7g of the stuff lol...
250mg should definitely do, if not be excessive for a first time user.