NEWS -8.12.2009: AFP Seize 20kg of the drug mephedrone

[MrIbis]

dont know what happened to my post, but i stated, a few people i know have been raided in relation to mephedrone - each time, they were searching for methcathinone, no cases have made it to court, because under our laws - it must be made from methcathinone to be a derrivative or analogue. which its not.

 

[acidprime]

...

8)

 

[phase_dancer]

it must be made from methcathinone to be a derrivative or analogue. which its not.

No that's not correct

Here's an excerpt from NSW law (twas the first I found)

Any substance that is an analogue of a drug prescribed in this Schedule, being a substance that has psychotropic properties, is not separately specified in this Schedule and is, in relation to the drug, any of the followinga) a structural isomer having the same constituent groups as the drug,(b) a structural modification obtained in one or more of the following waysi) the replacement of up to 2 carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring structures with different carbocyclic or heterocyclic ring structures,(ii) the addition of hydrogen atoms to 1 or more unsaturated bonds,(iii) the addition of 1 or more of the following groups having up to 6 carbon atoms in any alkyl residue, namely, alkoxy, cyclic diether, acyl, acyloxy, monoalkylamino and dialkylamino groups,(iv) the addition of 1 or more of the following groups having up to 6 carbon atoms in the group and being attached to oxygen, namely, alkyl, alkenyl and alkynyl groups (for example, ester groups and ether groups),(v) the addition of 1 or more of the following groups having up to 6 carbon atoms in the group and being attached to nitrogen, sulphur or carbon, namely, alkyl, alkenyl and alkynyl groups,(vi) the addition of 1 or more of the following groups, namely, halogen, hydroxy, nitro and amino groups,(vii) the replacement of 1 or more of the groups specified in subparagraphs (iii)-(vi) with 1 or more other groups so specified,(viii) the conversion of a carboxyl or an ester group into an amide group.

DRUG MISUSE AND TRAFFICKING ACT 1985 - SCHEDULE 1

So, as methcathinone is listed, 4-MMC would come under the highlighted areas above. The drug doesn't have to be made from a scheduled drug - that's rarely applicable to new designer drugs i.e. start with the hypothetical illicit drug X1, make a modification to get X2. Usually a synthesis for X2 will start one or more steps back in the synthesis and not go through an X1 intermediate. If these laws only applied to drugs that were made directly from a listed drug, they would be useless in most cases.

The above is fairly std wording for state legislation in Aus. Both Qld and SA have similar laws.

 

[MrIbis]

My post was in reference to what i've seen going on. Not what the 'law' states. I think that prosecution on the matters is quite delinquent on their use of the laws. Failing to utilize them properly because it falls into a proverbial grey zone.

It is illegal, but finding the right clause to prosecute someone seems to be difficult for them. I also doubt the prosecution or judges citing the warrants have any idea what half of that means. when trying to get a warrant as quickly as possible so as to make a raid feasble, finding a few organic chemists or pharmacists to help them with the understanding of those laws would be difficult. when the idiot AFP officer notices 'methcathinone' in the name, they're filing warrants for the illegal drug methcathinone, and nothing else.

 

[phase_dancer]

Nah, prosecution should have little trouble finding chemists or pharmacologists to state why 4-MMC is an analogue and possesses CNS activity. Eventually, (as currently in Qld and possibly SA) CNS activity alone may be enough to get a conviction. As for judges etc not knowing about the laws, I would suggest that if someone can get prosecuted for possession of caffeine tablets as occurred a while ago, then anyone with a pile of a chemical that is known to be popular with the "Ecstasy Market" could also expect a similar outcome.

 

[MrIbis]

possibly, but it all comes down to what you admit at the time aswell, if you say you were planning to sell this 'ecstacy' bam, they got you on the chin.

If you say i have this legal substance, i dont plan to sell it at all... theres a whole load of bullshit they have to jump through.

 

[static_mind]

The guy who imported 30years worth of steroids recently and claimed they were for personal use the judge believed him.

 

[jenkem]

Maybe adverse health complications caused by mephedrone will now become widespread enough for gov't to consider legalisation of MDMA....


...fat chance though