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News: Fears of new ecstasy on streets 27/03/10 (BL and Sykik mentioned)

marley

marley

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Fears of new ecstasy on streets
March 27, 2010

A new drug has hit our shores and little is known of its dangers, writes Nick Ralston.

Doug had never heard of "meow meow" the first time he took up an offer from his housemate and swallowed two capsules of the drug on a Friday night last November.

An occasional ecstasy user, Doug, who declined to give his full name, took the new drug because it promised to be just as ''good and strong'' as the ''decent [ecstasy] pills'' at a fraction of the price.

The twentysomething professional who lives in Sydney's inner west said he barely slept until the Monday.

''My mate had had it a couple of times and he loved the stuff.

I was keen to put my hand up for it,'' Doug said. ''The feeling was very similar to strong [ecstasy] pills. I was flushed. I was excited. I was hyper.

"You get a bit thirsty and keen for a dance … then it gets to 11am and you're still awake.''

In the months since, Doug has taken meow meow once more but he said his friends' interest in and knowledge of the drug has grown tenfold.

Meow meow - a street name for mephedrone - was practically unheard of just 12 months ago, but its use is on the rise.

The name meow meow originates from m-Cat, an abbreviation of the substance's full chemical name 4-Methylmethcathinone. It is a synthetic substance mainly produced in China and based on cathinone compounds found in khat, the east African plant that is chewed for an amphetamine-like stimulant effect.

Users of the drug, a white powder which is usually swallowed in capsules or snorted, have likened its effect to the euphoria experienced on ecstasy combined with ''the more-ish qualities of cocaine''.

Its popularity stems from the British dance music scene where in the past 12 months it has progressed from a fringe substance to the drug of choice.

In Britain, mephedrone is cheap, legal and can be bought online and delivered to an address only hours later.

Online retailers of the drug avoid legal issues by marketing it as ''plant food'' and stating that it is ''not for human consumption''. Many of the websites, however, carry suggestive names like ''discofood'', accompanied by images of the rave scene.

But the legality of the drug there is under review. The British media have linked the deaths of four people, including two teenage boys, in the past month to the drug.

In Australia it is illegal, but both police and the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre said they were aware of its presence and were monitoring its availability. Just last month, the Australian Federal Police and Customs seized 20 kilograms of the drug hidden in children's toys.

Users of the drug told the Herald that demand for mephedrone in Australia surged in November for the summer party and music festival seasons.

It was coupled with what regular ecstasy users described as an ''MDMA drought''.

NDARC's drug monitoring system said users had also noted a steady decline in the purity of ecstasy since 2006.

One user of mephedrone, who did not wish to be identified, said when reports of the drug filtered in from Britain, people were keen to try it.

''MDMA has become a lot less common and a lot harder to find,'' the user said. ''People are always trying to find things that have similar effects.''

Gideon Warhaft, who edits User's News for the NSW Users and Aids Association, said: ''It's inevitable that when drugs are made illegal you are going to have a situation where new drugs are invented.''

NDARC's Dr Lucy Burns said she had yet to see any indication of widespread use of mephedrone. But users have told the Herald that dealers regularly try to pass off the new, cheaper drug as ecstasy to sell it for a higher price. A gram of mephedrone costs about $100 here compared with $300 for a gram of MDMA.

This deception is worrying visitors to the drug information and harm minimisation website Blue Light. Sykik, a regular user of the forums, said he'd tried the drug and the big difference was the need for a higher dosage of mephedrone to achieve the same feeling as ecstasy.

The euphoric feeling, which he described as ''the magic'', does not last as long from the newcomer. He said those who believed they were taking ecstasy then may believe it fine to keep ''re-dosing''.

Little research has been done on the drug and there are concerns about the effect quantities of more than 500mg can have on the body, in particular the heart.

Australian users have reported palpations, along with nose bleeds, muscle tension in the face, paranoia and insomnia.
Click to expand...

http://www.smh.com.au/national/fears-of-new-ecstasy-on-streets-20100326-r31v.html
 
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Yeah it's about as impartial a mention as we can hope for. Nice to see something other than 'OH GOD DEADLY NEW DRUG 4 DEATHS PEOPLE CUTTING OFF THEIR BALLS'
 
^ I have!

But I'd say that was more just because it had been re-inforced by the media.

Good find Marley, And Kudos to Syklik for his mention. Go Bluelight =D
 
I've heard it called pretty much every name the media has mentioned, and more. The most common seem to be meph(edrone)/mephies/mcat. It's a pain trying to explain the drug to someone who doesn't use it and getting 'wait, so it's that stuff they prescribe heroin addicts?' or 'wait, you mean meth?'
 
^ haha. yeah that used to happen quite a bit when I was out. I'd be asked: 'what are you in on?'
Me: 'mephedrone'.
Him/Her: 'methadone. are you a junky?'

:|:|
 
^ Yeah saying caps is easier, But I always hope that other people will know what I mean whenI say Meph.

I hate it more when people or the media call it M-Cat though.
 
I haven't personally heard anyone call it anything other than 4-MMC, or generally refer to it as a cathinone.

I would have thought 'Meow' would have been better suited to methoxy compounds.
 
meow > cat > cathinone > khat.... i get the idea.. but it's stupid... certainly doesn't make the drug sound like "ecstacy" does... makes it sound like some form of catnip.
 
lol...nobody noticed I still used 2009 in the thread title?

News: Fears of new ecstasy on streets 27/03/09 (BL and Sykik mentioned)

lol
 
I was going to post this, but I felt like I was blowing my own horn, and I wasn't really happy with what he said. I spoke to the jurno for about 20min, and that was all got in there. But at least I got him to say something good.
 
Well i'll be speaking with Steve Cannane and the ABC today, Steve is coming personally before camera crews to discuss things further also - which i found extremely good of him.

9am.. damn hour and a half.. shit i better get in the shower and have a shave hahah
 
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