This is verging on what I would consider better for Drug Culture, but I can also see how it might be beneficial to others here in the HR forums. When I read the title of this thread, I was actually pretty surprised to see someone laud Mephedrone (4 Methyl-Methcathinone or 4MMC) to such an extent. I understand it had its heyday about a little under a decade ago, but I never understood it in this context. I always saw Mephedrone to be an important benchmark in the spread of and more widespread use of "New Psychoactive Substances"; not so much a drug that everyone craves, but a drug close enough to that description, that could be ordered infinitely and legally from the comfort of your home.
Phenibut for instance is probably not preferred by most to its more potent pharmacological relatives Gabapentin (Neurontin) and Pregabalin (Lyrica). It is generally considered to be less-potent, less-satisfying, but similar in effect. What we saw, however, were way more severe dependencies upon Phenibut, due to its legality and ease of acquisition. People still do become dependent upon amounts of Phenibut that would seem almost impossible to tolerate.
I would just say, it's probably not as big of a deal to miss out on a drug like 4-MMC. I think it's a pretty important indication of what was going on in terms of the consistency of NPS usage, but I don't think it's a huge loss.
