Somebody asked a few posts back whether EPH had been banned in the UK.
Am I alone in finding it bizarre that EPH hasn't received more scrutiny from government, and the media, than it has? EPH's been around for quite a while now, and it's probably fair to say that it's one of the most popular RC's out there. A relatively potent stimulant which can cause the dreaded euphoria, along with anxiety and panic attacks, is considerably 'moreish', causes a significant amount of pain and bleeding when snorted, is being sold by scrupulous vendors over the lawless world wide web (posing a real risk to the moral and physical wellbeing of the nation's youth, of course)... surely there's enough there for the Mail to write an article with?
Thinking of other RC's to have been banned, and contrasting... the obvious one is 'mcat'; why was that scheduled, splashed all over the tabloids, yet EPH seems to have, so far, slipped under the radar?
Possibly because less people are using EPH? Why might this be? Less euphoric high is one answer. Could the fact that it lacks a catchy, eye grabbing, paper selling nickname, also be a factor? I've never seen it called anything other than Ethylphenidate or EPH; the latter is too clunky, the former too technical. All street drugs have dumbed down slang names, presumably because the average whacked out druggie isn't the most coherent of types. 'Ethylphenidate' is harder to remember, harder to spell, and harder to pronounce, than 'mcat' or, heaven forbid, 'meow meow'. It sounds...complicated and alien. I know I'm pushing it a bit here, but all the same I'd like to suggest that the lack of a catchy name has injured EPH's popularity.
Something else to consider - there haven't, as far as I'm aware, been any media 'outcries' over EPH use, as there were with previously sold RC's like mcat. Nothing like publicity to fuel sales, and increase use.
So, as stupid as it is, and as tangled as my point was, I'm suggesting that the difference between an RC being banned and going ignored may be influenced by something as trivial as a name. Print that teenagers are getting high on meow meow and people pay attention, because the name is attention grabbing, and easily remembered later on down the pub when you're sat lamenting the state of the nation's youth.
I dunno. Maybe I'm just high.