Focus Group

[NewDrugsResearch]

Hi,

Thanks for taking part in this focus group. If you haven't already please look at the Participant Information thread before you join the discussion. It will give you more information about the study, what it involves from you as a participant, and what will happen to the information that you give.

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/737396-Participant-Information-PLEASE-READ
​

If you have already read through the information feel free to get started! In your first post can you please type "I agree" to give your consent to participate.

The first topic I want to look at is Reasons for Mephedrone Use. That is:

What were the reasons or motivations that either you or people you know might have had for trying mephedrone in the first place?

Did they change over time?

Did they shift when deciding to either continue to use mephedrone, or when deciding to stop?​

When you are discussing this I want you to think about mephedrone itself as well as what was going on at the time in terms of other drugs, NPS, legal highs, the RC scene etc....

I will be checking back regularly to reply to posts and ask questions as the discussion goes on but please question and reply to each other as well. The conversations you start are really important.

This is the first time we've tried this so I'm hoping it goes well as I think it could provide some really valuable perspectives. Thanks again for deciding to take part!

Zoe

 

[MagickalKat777]

I agree and give my consent to participate in this research

What were the reasons or motivations that either you or people you know might have had for trying mephedrone in the first place? Honestly, I was already pretty deep into the research chemicals and methylone was getting a bit boring as an MDMA substitute. I had been hearing a lot about mephedrone, both the good and the bad, for awhile at that point and one day a buddy sent me a sample of it. It was pretty much unlike any other drug I'd done before and was more like I was getting MDMA and speed in one drug and was quite pleasurable. It also was extremely cheap back then. A good tenth of the cost of high quality MDMA without the outright risk of going to jail just for simple possession, much less consumption. So I guess it was boredom with other alternatives, my curiosity of substances of all kinds, and how readily available and cheap it was.

Did they change over time? It quickly became a habit. For me and many others, it was very compulsive. I would start off with one dose and by the end of the night, two days later, I'd finally be starting to crash either because I ran out of mephedrone to use or because my heart was doing weird things.

Did they shift when deciding to either continue to use mephedrone, or when deciding to stop? I started to look at how far into it I was getting with mephedrone and finally put it away. Then I moved in with a roommate who made me flush all of the stuff that I had back in 2011 and I was done with all drugs after that for many years. When I decided to quit using mephedrone, MDMA had actually become much more easily accessible than it had been when I started mephedrone and I decided that it was worth the risk to get something I wouldn't binge on.

 

[NewDrugsResearch]

Thanks for starting off MagickalKat777. I'd be really interested to know if these initial market factor reasons (i.e., price, availability, legal status etc) were a real driving force behind anyone else's decision to try mephedrone? Or was there something else?

Also, I'd be interested to know more about the role of MDMA (and it's availability and quality) in yours and others decision making. Would you say that MDMA (or something else in the case of anyone else) was your drug of choice? Would it be true to say that the appeal of mephedrone is/was in it being a (good? legal? cheap?) alternative or substitute for something that wasn't otherwise available? And did this change i.e., is it now/did it become some people's drug of choice?

 

[Chatative]

I agree to participate in this research.

What were the reasons or motivations that either you or people you know might have had for trying mephedrone in the first place?

My motivations to begin with were probably that it was a readily available, legal entactogen & I knew what I was getting. I'd had no prior experience of drugs other than Cannabis & Salvia, perhaps Codeine too, until I tried Mephedrone. I think I'd fallen in with a lot of the propaganda taught at School that drugs were dangerous & you never knew what you could be getting.

In terms of why I first tried it, it was probably peer pressure & curiosity. My friend came to my flat who was high on Mephedrone & was asking me every 5 minutes if I wanted to try some. He showed me the Wikipedia entry & BL threads on it to satisfy me that it was safe to use. (My join date at BL was about 3 weeks after I started using!) I think that was probably a major concern for me. The fact that it was both meant to be 99% purity & that no-one had suffered any bad side effects, put my mind at rest terms of it being 'safe' to use. I put safe in apostrophes because of course it was a novel RC with little history of use.

As I was introduced to other people who were using the drug, I think thier motivations were similar in part. It was legal, cheap & at that time there was somewhat of an MDMA drought. I went to clubs & people were willing to try the drug without knowing anything about it simply because it was legal & similar to MDMA.

Did they change over time?

My motivations definitely changed over time in both positive and negative ways.

Trying Mephedrone was an eye opening experience to me, I'd never tried anything like it before. For the first few times, I had such strong empathy towards other people & things just felt so perfect that it meant I kept wanting to go back & use more. It was almost overwhelming how good it made me feel. Although I'd never tried MDMA, I'd read what it was like to be 'loved up' and 'roll' & this was exactly as I imagined that would be.

Slowly, over the next few months of use, I began to take more & really enjoyed getting rather messy on the drug. I loved the rush & it was very moreish. I'd get the drug delivered through the post & was so eager to use it, I'd hardly wait an hour or two before racking up some lines, taking it right through the Afternoon until going out in the evening. I think the fiendish side of the drug really came into itself when I started using it over multiple days. As MagicalKat says it could be very compulsive. I started using a dealer who lived 5 minute away merely because I didn't want to wait a day or two for it to be delivered. Sometimes I used to run out in the early hours of the morning & would go to my dealer to get more later that morning.

Eventually, it got to the point where the compulsive element led me to periods of habitual use, using the drug for a week, or at the most, two weeks with only the occasional day or two off. After starting to use again when I found a source post ban, I slowly worked up to using 2-3 times a week progressing to as much as 4-5 days a week. This probably went on for the better part of a year or so with a break for 2-4 weeks every now and then. I was still using it because I enjoyed it but the compulsion to use it was so strong, I couldn't go longer than a few days without craving it. I was psychologically addicted.

Did they shift when deciding to either continue to use mephedrone, or when deciding to stop?

I think perhaps the major shift motivation wise was both the growing compulsive element & it becoming illegal. The compulsion, which led to my habitual use meant I was getting less of the positive effects & was suffering negative consequences as a result. Also added to that, the fact it was illegal & was of much lower purity, cut with god knows what, meant I got less enjoyment from it. Just after it got banned I stopped using it for a long period of time because it was hard to source. In the end, I stopped using it for 8 months following my period of habitual use & although I tried it again a few times earlier this year, I decided the negatives of using the drug outweighed the positives. I may use it again but if I do, it's likely to only be one or two very infrequent sessions. It's just not the same as when I was initially using it.

i.e., is it now/did it become some people's drug of choice?

Being as I hadn't tried any other entacogens or stimulants before, I don't think it was surprising that it became my DOC. It also became the DOC for My best friend who had tried speed & MDMA previously I suspect because of the legality, cost & high purity. As for other people I knew, it was very much the DOC whilst it was legal. I think however that for most of us, when it became illegal, we stopped using drugs on the whole because we had all gone over the top to some extent or another due to the ease of access to it. As alluded to above, it also became much harder to source after the ban when the stockpiles ran out.

It definitely shaped my use of other RCs as I was looking for something similar that was legal following the ban. I think this was the case for many people & probably one of the reasons the RC market in the UK continued to do well. Now that I have access to most illegal drugs, I don't feel as inclined to get Mephedrone despite having ready access to it, although also for the reasons I said above.

 

[NewDrugsResearch]

Thanks Chatative....Do either of these experiences echo anyone else's? Aside from things like availability, legal status, perceived purity and safety etc., was there anything else that was particularly important in your decision making? What about the degree to which mephedrone lived up to expectation (and that it was a legal drug living up to expectation or not)? And if so, what kind of expectations did you have attached to mephedrone? Was it generic and about getting high or intoxicated generally or something more specific e.g., it needed to be good for socialising, or mood enhancement, or relaxation, or energy, or to do things, or to enhance sex, or to stay awake, or to alter the effects of another substance etc?

Also, how important are/were social networks both online and offline in terms of accessing mephedrone itself, and in terms of accessing information and harm reduction advice about the drugs? How much did you know about mephedrone before you tried it for the first time? How important was opportunism in your first experience - was one of the reasons that you tried it because someone offered it to you? How important were things like curiosity and the desire to experiment with all types of substances/RCs - was trying mephedrone something you were actively looking to do?

 

[Allein]

I agree to participate in this research.

What were the reasons or motivations that either you or people you know might have had for trying mephedrone in the first place?

A few years prior I had largely ceased attending UK Free Parties, which I had been doing for the best part of ten years along with increasingly heavy use of amphetamines and MDMA. My drug use had changed and I had been regularly using cocaine at home.

I became aware of mephedrone online, I didnt know anyone IRL that had taken it at that stage and obtained some initially out of curiosity, this was the first RC I’d ever taken. I quickly switched from cocaine to mephedrone , I preferred it and it was £5 a gram as opposed to £50-60 for cocaine and the quality was much more consistent. The legality had little to do with it although clearly it made purchasing the substance a great deal easier.
I was genuinely astounded by the effects of mephedrone, the fact that this substance was legally available and, for me was better than cocaine was clearly a ‘game changer’ for recreational drug use in the UK.

Did they change over time?

Over time my use increased substantially, both in length of ‘binges’ and in quantity consumed. I also started to combine these binges to include the use of MDPV as well.
For me and I believe many this was the first step into buying drugs via the internet, illicit or otherwise.

Did they shift when deciding to either continue to use mephedrone, or when deciding to stop?

I pretty much stopped using mephedrone when it became illegal although the main reason for stopping was the vomiting it had started to cause on every come down. This may have been related to a similar issue I suffered with towards the end of my use of MDMA, I suspect some relationship with serotonin but I’m just speculating.
Neither cocaine or amphetamines bring about this vomiting in me. Recently I used a small quantity of mephedrone and suffered the same side effects as before.

 

[MagickalKat777]

I'd be really interested to know if these initial market factor reasons (i.e., price, availability, legal status etc) were a real driving force behind anyone else's decision to try mephedrone? Or was there something else?

Well I've always been really experimental but I actually avoided mephedrone for quite some time because of the concerns of the toxicity of the ephedrine metabolite but I was exposed to it as a sample with another order and it had a certain magic that nothing else had plus it was legal to possess, extremely available, and the cost was VERY low. With my connects, I could get mephedrone for free but even when I couldn't, I paid about a tenth for it compared to what I would have to pay for MDMA and the risk associated with that.

Also, I'd be interested to know more about the role of MDMA (and it's availability and quality) in yours and others decision making. Would you say that MDMA (or something else in the case of anyone else) was your drug of choice? Would it be true to say that the appeal of mephedrone is/was in it being a (good? legal? cheap?) alternative or substitute for something that wasn't otherwise available? And did this change i.e., is it now/did it become some people's drug of choice?

MDMA was my drug of choice for many years, I had mephedrone and MDMA around me all the time and I combined the two a few times. Mephedrone very much had its own place in a sea of generic chemicals and I had ready access to all of them. I wouldn't say that mephedrone was a substitute at all, it filled a gap for me. Mephedrone was something that I could do any time that I wanted to and get up the next day and be functional. Its short duration meant that I could get a quick boost and be down or I could keep boosting the dose all night. I never liked cocaine but I loved mephedrone so I guess you could say that mephedrone filled the gap between methylone, mephedrone, and MDMA as my regular go tos for stimulant/empathogenic drugs.

I would like to add that another reason that I stopped was because of the toxicity that others were reporting. I wasn't noticing the type of vasoconstriction from the pure stuff that I was getting but I was getting panic attacks and chest pains so it couldn't have been doing good things to my heart.

 

[NewDrugsResearch]

It seems that the change in legal status was an important milestone for both Chatative and Allein in stopping mephedrone (even if the legal status itself wasn't the main reason to stop). Also, seems like weighing up risks and benefits was also an important factor for all of you so far.

From the people who haven't posted yet......it would be good to hear from anyone who perhaps hasn't stopped using mephedrone (or didn't stop using mephedrone when it became illegal) as well? Or, for those have stopped using mephedrone, do you see some commonalities in what has already been posted? Or is there something else you would add? Also, did anyone use mephedrone just once and then decide not to take it again?

 

[NewDrugsResearch]

I was thinking it might be a good idea to bring in a new topic as well. One of the things I also wanted to discuss with you was context of use. By that I mean things like:

How did you feel before using mephedrone? Did you use mephedrone alone? or with friends?

Where would you use mephedrone? How would it fit into your day/night/week?

What other drugs you would use in combination with mephedrone?

How you would use mephedrone (e.g., amounts, route of administration, length of session, did you redose etc...)

Are or were there any ways of using mephedrone that you would stay away from? (e.g., ROAs, settings, moods, people)​

 

[Allein]

How did you feel before using mephedrone?

I don't understand that question, probably me but could you re-phrase it please

 

[NewDrugsResearch]

Sorry! I guess I'm trying to get an idea of how important set and setting were and the nature of set and setting, so that question is about your state of mind, or mood, or headspace before using mephedrone. Was it something you would try and control? Was using mephedrone about changing your mood, or reducing stress, or exploring consciousness, or something else? Does that make more sense?

 

[ebola?]

I agree to participate in this study.

Hey guys. Sorry I'm so late to the party. Life got busy. I'll answer what I can before work and then subsequently edit this post.

What were the reasons or motivations that either you or people you know might have had for trying mephedrone in the first place?

I'm not sure how valuable my speculation regarding others' reasons for use of mephedrone might be, so I'll just give mine. Due to a paucity of accessible, relatively pure (or even genuine) MDMA, I went cruising the internet for novel entactogens circa 2009 or so. While ordering methylone, I found a vendor willing to provide a free sample of mephedrone (~250 mg), and decided to give it a whirl. I dosed 125 mg orally in water solution, staggered over approximately a half an hour. It kicked in uncomfortably hard but then wore off quickly, leaving unpleasant trailing stimulation. I was unimpressed.

A year or so later, I had a friend who was way into the compound, in fact reporting problematic patterns of use. At that point in my life, I was not really seeking to amass a supply of MDMA. Over the course of several months, he offered me lines of mephedrone on 3 or so occasions. I liked this a lot more, as it felt more like what you'd expect on paper (some sort of blend of coke and mdma), without a very intense come-down or hangover. These sessions were comparatively moderate, with ~50 mg lines, and a maximum of ~150 mg in an evening. Still, I knew that on paper, mephedrone should vie for stimulant lending itself most to compulsive usage, so I purposefully avoided purchasing or seeking out the compound. I have found myself to use compulsive substances...well...compulsively in the past, so I remained quite wary.

Shortly after, I moved away, and the ban was instated, so I haven't given the compound more thought beyond inspection of relevant research on it from a theoretical standpoint.

I really like entactogens but found mephedrone inferior to others.

Did [your motivations] change over time?

Not really, no. It's just that at some point acquisition became too much of a hassle for my limited personal interest in the compound. In all but one case, my beginning sets and settings were having a good time socializing with friends at small get-togethers at my house or my friend's. Upon taking the compound, my set would change to having a fucking great time socializing with friends. My first use was on my birthday, at a Pride festival in San Francisco, but I had a poor experience in part because I took it with my then girlfriend, and we were having some on-going relationship issues. She reacted slightly bizarrely (she claimed to be unaffected but proceeded to take ~20 pictures with strangers in one hour, which made me pretty uncomfortable), coloring my experience negatively

Did they shift when deciding to either continue to use mephedrone, or when deciding to stop?

See above.

ebola

 

[Albion]

(I agree to participate in this study.)

What were the reasons or motivations that either you or people you know might have had for trying mephedrone in the first place?

I was 18 when I found out about mephedrone. I had just started my art foundation at St Martin's and really was totally naive to all drugs at the time, including alcohol. I first saw mephedrone on the BBC news at 10. My new friendship group from my course was comprised of drug users, and I was just up for trying anything at that time in life, so naturally mephedrone found its way into the social gatherings and parties that I was attending, and I got my first taste of it then. It was just the done thing.

Did they change over time?

Mephedrone quite rapidly became the reason to take mephedrone; it became the reason to party; the event. Less so mephedrone at parties, more so mephedrone parties.

Did they shift when deciding to either continue to use mephedrone, or when deciding to stop?

We didn't get to decide to stop. Mephedrone became illegal and all our sources ran out, it was forcibly ejected.

 

[Albion]

How did you feel before using mephedrone? Did you use mephedrone alone? or with friends?

In the era I talked about above, when I was 18/19 in the London art school scene I used it with friends. We would have nights where we would sit and chat and play music until the sun rose, and would carry on until the mephedrone was gone.

I've encountered mephedrone sporadically since then (post-ban). Once was on my own, the other was at a festival with a friend. How did/do I feel before using mephedrone? Just that 'OK here we go again' certainty.

Where would you use mephedrone? How would it fit into your day/night/week?

Mephedrone's one of those multi-purpose drugs that I would feel comfortable using pretty much anywhere. You take mephedrone and you carry on with what you are doing.

What other drugs you would use in combination with mephedrone?

I don't think I've actually used mephedrone in combination with anything else. No real need, or want.

How you would use mephedrone (e.g., amounts, route of administration, length of session, did you redose etc...)

Pretty much always snorted it. Especially at parties. When I had it on my own I tried plugging it but didn't notice any great enhancement in effects over snorting. 1g/2g binges. Length of session would be 12-48 hours. Of course I redose; mephedrone's attraction and compulsion lies in how great it performs on the redose.

Are or were there any ways of using mephedrone that you would stay away from? (e.g., ROAs, settings, moods, people)

I wouldn't IV it. But that's a principle I apply to every drug. I'm not too wary of mephedrone; it's fairly self-limiting, unlike its close cousin MDPV...

 

[Bob Loblaw]

What were the reasons or motivations that either you or people you know might have had for trying mephedrone in the first place?

Did they change over time?

Did they shift when deciding to either continue to use mephedrone, or when deciding to stop?​

When you are discussing this I want you to think about mephedrone itself as well as what was going on at the time in terms of other drugs, NPS, legal highs, the RC scene etc....

I will be checking back regularly to reply to posts and ask questions as the discussion goes on but please question and reply to each other as well. The conversations you start are really important.

This is the first time we've tried this so I'm hoping it goes well as I think it could provide some really valuable perspectives. Thanks again for deciding to take part!

Zoe

• I had seen it mentioned on a couple of source boards I was on & my best friend really wanted to try it. It seemed interesting, & I like trying new drugs. Most people I knew IRL took it because we were buying & selling large quantities; it became popular with the 'raver kids' & drug users in general in my area.
• I was getting it for dirt cheap & making tonnes of money while staying high all the time. I could feel absolutely amazing for just a few dollars a day, and it became hard to stop because there seemed to be little reason to until my parents caught on.
• The feeling was so good and I had such a good set-up in terms of supply & distribution that I don't know how or when I would've stopped if I had been living on my own. I got duped out of a lot of money & my little business never recovered. At the time I was a complete mess, totally strung out on whatever I was getting my hands on, heroin, coke, ketamine, etc

Thanks Chatative....Do either of these experiences echo anyone else's? Aside from things like availability, legal status, perceived purity and safety etc., was there anything else that was particularly important in your decision making? What about the degree to which mephedrone lived up to expectation (and that it was a legal drug living up to expectation or not)? And if so, what kind of expectations did you have attached to mephedrone? Was it generic and about getting high or intoxicated generally or something more specific e.g., it needed to be good for socialising, or mood enhancement, or relaxation, or energy, or to do things, or to enhance sex, or to stay awake, or to alter the effects of another substance etc?

Also, how important are/were social networks both online and offline in terms of accessing mephedrone itself, and in terms of accessing information and harm reduction advice about the drugs? How much did you know about mephedrone before you tried it for the first time? How important was opportunism in your first experience - was one of the reasons that you tried it because someone offered it to you? How important were things like curiosity and the desire to experiment with all types of substances/RCs - was trying mephedrone something you were actively looking to do?

The price, availability & business pattern I'd established combined with how much I loved the drug itself to keep my usage going for so long. If I had to buy it off the street, then I would have used far less. Whenever I had to quit, I never experienced any cravings. To this day, I can look back fondly on the highs, but I don't have a strong desire to do it again. This always struck me as odd. I heard about it from people online & my best friend kept asking to get some, so I did some research & found a lab in China that dealt with bulk quantities. My first purchase was 10g; that became 15, 30, 50, 100, etc.

I was thinking it might be a good idea to bring in a new topic as well. One of the things I also wanted to discuss with you was context of use. By that I mean things like:

How did you feel before using mephedrone? Did you use mephedrone alone? or with friends?

Where would you use mephedrone? How would it fit into your day/night/week?

What other drugs you would use in combination with mephedrone?

How you would use mephedrone (e.g., amounts, route of administration, length of session, did you redose etc...)

Are or were there any ways of using mephedrone that you would stay away from? (e.g., ROAs, settings, moods, people)​

• I felt normal, I guess, and after I stopped the first time I went through a month long period that seemed almost identical to a major depressive episode from the DSM-IV. I did both, but as time went on I did it alone more frequently & eventually I became pretty quiet & withdrawn while on it.
• I usually did it in my bedroom after school. I'd go from about 16:00 - 1:00 or 2 or 3 or... But I always tried to get an hour or two of sleep. Then I'd wake up & repeat the cycle unless I had work or some other obligation.
• I did most of it by itself, but I combined it with opiates for an interesting & enjoyable experience. Shooting with heroin is what caused my mini-stroke; I don't recall mixing it with anything else.
• I preferred insufflation, though I also ate & injected it a few times. Snorting a bit half an hour after swallowing 100-200mg was probably the most enjoyable way to take it, however. I estimate that I did 1g/day for around three months, but I'm not sure. I didn't enjoy staying up more than 24 hours on it, because the negative effects increased disproportionately with the positive. I could feel my body telling me to stop.

 

[NewDrugsResearch]

Thanks everyone who has taken the time to post so far!

One of the things that I'm interested in in terms of context of use is the controls put in place by users to regulate use and/or minimise risk. Things like information gathering and research before use, carefully managing things like set, setting and dosage, carrying out tester sessions before a main session with a new substance, avoiding certain use behaviours e.g., particular ROAs, not mixing substances etc. Do these kind of things look familiar? How important is control when thinking about trying any drug (new or familiar)? How important was it with mephedrone? Do users who are part of online communities differ from people who are not in this?

Another thing I'd like your perspective on is the degree to which mephedrone's popularity or appeal (or not) came from it being considered socially acceptable in a way, maybe not by society in general but perhaps by other users?? I'm planning on asking about effects in more detail but it seems that in the case of mephedrone that they were related to this. It's duration of action has already been mentioned - i.e., did this allow it to fit in with work, school, uni, or anything else you had going on? Also, initially, it didn't seem to be perceived as 'dirty' but then the fiendishness and compulsive side of it seemed to some negative attention from users, as did the idea of 'meph heads'. What do you think?

Also, I wanted to ask one other question in relation to context. It seems that from what you've said so far that the main reasons for using mephedrone were social reasons, experimentation, and mood enhancement. Are there any more that I'm missing (I'm excluding things like price and availability here)? In particular, I was wanting to know about the use of mephedrone for sex. This is something that has come up in part of my research with other subgroups, and I was just wondering what your perspective was? Did you or people you know either IRL or on BL use mephedrone to enhance sex?

 

[NewDrugsResearch]

Hi Everyone, only a few more days to go until the focus group will be closed. I really appreciate all the contributions so far - it's been really useful to get your perspectives to compare to some of the qualitative work I have done so far. It would be fantastic if you could keep posting until the end (I know that means finding the time in amongst everything else)! Aside from the follow up questions in my last post about context there are just two more related topics that I wanted to discuss.

The first is mephedrone effects. I know some of you have already touched on this already but it would be great if you could just give a summary (or a re-summary if needs be!) of the main positive, negative, and neutral effects of mephedrone during the high and during the comedown. Crucially, it would also be great if you could comment on whether or not these effects changed over time - some of the data I have seems to indicate that the comedown effects and hangovers seemed to get worse...or did people just start reporting them more? Or is it that different effects are experienced by different people?? Also, mephedrone seemed to be most commonly described as a mixture between MDMA/ecstasy and cocaine or speed - would you agree?

Again, I know this has been touched on by some, but the second is outomes of mephedrone use and adverse effects. I know that this may not have affected everybody but it is an important aspect of my research. What kinds of problems did people experience (if any)? This includes physical problems, psychological problems, and any social problems.

 

[ebola?]

One of the things that I'm interested in in terms of context of use is the controls put in place by users to regulate use and/or minimise risk. Things like information gathering and research before use, carefully managing things like set, setting and dosage, carrying out tester sessions before a main session with a new substance, avoiding certain use behaviours e.g., particular ROAs, not mixing substances etc.

As with any substance, I became interested in mephedrone theoretically months before trying it. From this, I tend to work out rules for safer use, but having my particular proclivities, I don't always follow my own rules. Because of mephedrone's potent release of all 3 monoamines and brief duration, it warrants the same cautious practices that accompany sensible use of both strong stimulants and classical entactogens. Hence, rapidly acting routes of administration are to be avoided (my prior source ended up injecting it daily for a period, claiming the 'rush' better than IV coke's :/), number of redoses per-session should be limited, as should size of attack dose, and lengthy breaks should be taken between sessions (ideally, it should be treated like MDMA in the latter respect).

I was pretty reckless in beginning with a full recreational dose in public, but no harm befell me. Beyond that, I consider my usage patterns cited above sensible.

Do these kind of things look familiar? How important is control when thinking about trying any drug (new or familiar)? How important was it with mephedrone? Do users who are part of online communities differ from people who are not in this?

Yes, these practices of caution are similar to those applicable to any addictive compound, but some of the relevant practices are specific to mephedrone's pharmacological classification. An additional item of caution is warranted: mephedrone very likely metabolizes to 4-methyl-ephedrine, a putatively a potent, comparatively long-acting vasoconstrictor (lasting hours after elimination of significant quantities of the parent compound). Consequently, adverse cardiovascular symptoms are more likely with binges on mephedrone than binges on other potent stimulants.

It's duration of action has already been mentioned - i.e., did this allow it to fit in with work, school, uni, or anything else you had going on?

Not for me. I was teaching discussion sections at university at the time, and I couldn't risk trying to teach sleep-deprived and/or hung-over (let alone high, lol). However, my academic schedule allowed for random weekday forays.

Also, initially, it didn't seem to be perceived as 'dirty' but then the fiendishness and compulsive side of it seemed to some negative attention from users, as did the idea of 'meph heads'. What do you think?

Basically, I encountered data from experience reports from various users about fiendish effects and what sounded like trailing adrenergic effects causing problematic vasoconstriction (are you aware of the 'blue knees' syndrome?) at the same time as I did objective data demonstrating likely pharmacological mechanisms underlying these effects. Both properties were confirmed by subjective bioassay. However, I doubt my perspective similar to a typical user's.

Also, I wanted to ask one other question in relation to context. It seems that from what you've said so far that the main reasons for using mephedrone were social reasons, experimentation, and mood enhancement.

I'll add some additional subjective details, which I think are representative. I found the empathy slightly muted in comparison with mdma, but pleasant stimulation more pronounced. Mentally, it was more of a, "Hey, everything's awesome, and that means so am I, and so are those I'm with!" type vibe than an "I can totally empathize with everyone out of love" experience. The body high was also insanely pleasant...floaty but very stimulating. Compulsion to redose was severe, but less than with coke (what a fucking waste of time, the latter).

As for sexual enhancement, I found it similar to other stimulants but with more localized vasoconstriction which is. . .not ideal for males.

I found the trailing adrenergic effects more pronounced than other stimulants', which was annoying but weatherable (if you don't binge, they're only noticeable for a few hours).
I only ever got a significant hangover in situations where I was sleep deprived...or came down into an unpleasant setting.

In general, I am highly prone to hangovers from MDMA (even from my first experience).

This includes physical problems, psychological problems, and any social problems.

Social problems...so this one time, a couple of bluelighters visited me. One was the source I mentioned, who took mephedrone IV, and both took K IM. I only took oral MDMA. Well, my roommate wasn't home, so they shot in the living room. My roommate stopped in on them, and he was super angry. It marred a lot of the evening for me, but it was okay in sum. Sorry, perhaps this was less than relevant.

ebola

 

[Chatative]

How did you feel before using mephedrone? Did you use mephedrone alone? or with friends?

I usually found that I would get a sort of nervous excitement before using Mephedrone. I started off using Mephedrone with friends & then started using it by myself sometimes. After it was banned, a lot of the friends who I took drugs with stopped using them so I tended to use alone after that.

Where would you use mephedrone? How would it fit into your day/night/week?

I would use Mephedrone in my flat, friends' flats, my parents house if they were out & even at my friends house with his parents in. I alse used it out in clubs, usually in toilets although a few times outdoors in secluded locations between clubs.

I would just use Mephedrone anywhere in my day/week where I had free time. I might start using anywhere between 9am-10pm. I was at University most the time I was using - I tended to use more often at the end of the week/weekends but I also used more heavily particularly in the Christmas/Easter break. When I became employed, I would use it on a free day when I knew I had the following day off. When I was unemployed & using it habitually, I just used it the second I got a hold of it.

What other drugs you would use in combination with mephedrone?

I maybe drank alcohol once or twice but I didn't really liked combining the two. I also used it in combination with Methylone a number of times & once tried some Butylone with it too.

How you would use mephedrone (e.g., amounts, route of administration, length of session, did you redose etc...)

I started off by insufflating it & this was my preferred ROA because I enjoyed the immediate rush. I tried bombing it a few times, which tended to result in a much stronger effects, although after using regularly for many months... it ceased to be effective. I always redosed, usually until I ran out although the few times I had larger quantities whilst using it recreationally, I did stop around the 2g mark regardless.

As for amounts, whilst it was legal, I used to insufflate small lines by preference. I probably used between 300-500mg on most sessions where we were taking it for going out. i.e. 7-8pm until 3-5am. Slowly, whilst using it during the day into the next morning, either with friends or by myself, I started using 1-2g over 24 hours or so. With postban Mephedrone, after the stockpiles of preban had gone, I was using 2-3g a night until I was using it habitually at which point it was closer to 4g. I always

Are or were there any ways of using mephedrone that you would stay away from? (e.g., ROAs, settings, moods, people)

In general no. I never really thought of using any other ROA, although I will admit I wish I had tried plugging it back in the day.

Sorry! I guess I'm trying to get an idea of how important set and setting were and the nature of set and setting, so that question is about your state of mind, or mood, or headspace before using mephedrone. Was it something you would try and control? Was using mephedrone about changing your mood, or reducing stress, or exploring consciousness, or something else? Does that make more sense?

I used Mephedrone because I loved the experience it gave... it was nothing like exploring issues or consciousness with psyches but rather just the more hedonistic pleasures. I think perhaps I used it for many reasons as time went on though, because I was bored, happy, sad, stressed... it was just my go to drug. I wouldn't have said the setting was particularly important. I did like to tidy my flat before going on a multiple day session though!

It kicked in uncomfortably hard but then wore off

I think this sums up my first experience of bombing Mephedrone. The come up came so suddenly & was so hard that I likened it to being hit by a freight train. I think that put me off dropping some before going out to clubs. However, this sensation of being almost overwhelmed was something I did enjoy the few times I bombed it without much tolerance.

Thanks everyone who has taken the time to post so far!

One of the things that I'm interested in in terms of context of use is the controls put in place by users to regulate use and/or minimise risk.

I already alluded to being shown the Wikipedia entry as well as BL threads before I used it. Apart from that though, I was fairly young & naïve so that was as far as safety concerns went with my first use. After that, I tried to limit myself to 250, 300 500mg in a night but that quite quickly went out the window with the compulsive nature of the drug. As far as checking new batches, I would just smell it... fairly distinctive smell. I don't think I had much reason to doubt I was getting the substance I thought.

Since that time though, I have gotten into the habit of allergy tests with new substances or batches of any drug I try. I also tend to do threshold doses for any new chemical or when I switch supplier.

I'm not entirely sure if people who are not members of online communities like BL or drugs.com use HR practices like these, but my impression is not to the same extent. As far as Mephedrone went, no-one I knew really used HR practices at all.

Another thing I'd like your perspective on is the degree to which mephedrone's popularity or appeal (or not) came from it being considered socially acceptable in a way, maybe not by society in general but perhaps by other users?? I'm planning on asking about effects in more detail but it seems that in the case of mephedrone that they were related to this. It's duration of action has already been mentioned - i.e., did this allow it to fit in with work, school, uni, or anything else you had going on? Also, initially, it didn't seem to be perceived as 'dirty' but then the fiendishness and compulsive side of it seemed to some negative attention from users, as did the idea of 'meph heads'. What do you think?

I think Mephedrones legal status did make it very much more socially acceptable amongst users & was what enticed some of us who had never tried many drugs before into using it.

I think the 'meph heads' thing came about exactly because of the fiendish nature of the drug, the fact that it was the DOC for us & because when trying other novel RCs, we were trying to replicate Mephedrones effects. Also the, shall we say, exuberant nature of users whilst on the drug.

I'll answer the final questions later on, I think I've done enough typing for now. :D

 

[Allein]

To address your more recent queries:-

All the initial information I gained about mephedrone was gleaned from Bluelight and online research. Whilst I didn’t take a non-active dose to test for adverse reaction I was cautious the first time I tried it. Based on the conversations I had with others who were less active online, at the time I would suspect that use of online forums was a significant factor during the early stages of the substance becoming available.

As I’ve mentioned before the legality in itself had little to do with my choice to take the substance and I doubt it made it any more acceptable in general, snorting lines of a substance is unlikely to be felt to be ‘acceptable’ by the non drug taking community regardless.
From my perspective the existing drug taking community treated mephedrone with more than a little suspicion from the outset. As a new substance not a great deal was known about possible adverse side effects but vasoconstriction quickly surfaced as being a possible problem with pictures of the infamous purple limbs etc were posted.

Being an established user and abuser of both cocaine and amphetamines I found the effects and duration easy to cope with in almost any environment. I found it less compulsive than cocaine, the duration was longer and the crash much less of an issue than cocaine. At the time I was unable to obtain amphetamines of a reasonable quality.

I would almost always snort mephedrone only occasionally taking it orally. Snorted I would re-dose about once an hour, maybe more. I have a tendency to ‘fiend’ on stimulants and will continually use until the drugs run out. The cost and availability of mephedrone led to larger and larger amounts being ordered leading to more and more being taken over an extended period sometimes running into days at a time. I wouldn’t compare it to a mixture of other drugs as it has its own specific effect however it clearly has a further dimension beyond a straight stimulant like amphetamine and this could be stretched to a passing similarity to MDMA although I think the comparison is a poor one.

At the time mephedrone began to gain serious popularity the availability and quality of a cocaine, amphetamine sulphate and MDMA seemed to be very low. The few times I went to parties on mephedrone it fell well short of MDMA in both duration and effect, the urge to re-dose was tom intrusive in that environment for me.

I’m not aware of anyone using mephedrone specifically to enhance sex although most would mention an enhanced desire to have sex whilst on the drug but nothing that wouldn’t fall in line with most stimulants.

As I’ve mentioned I developed very unpleasant symptoms on coming down from mephedrone. Psychologically I found it less brutal than either cocaine or amphetamine in comparable quantity but physically I would it would feel like food poisoning for 24hrs or longer although I’ve not really come across anyone else who suffered with this.

Towards the end of my use I started combining Mephedrone with other RCs. Mainly MDPV but also Methylone. Over time I became far more interested in MDPV which certainly didn’t help my psychological state.