Chemists are staying one step ahead of drug laws by toying with the chemical make-up of illegal stimulants such as ecstasy, speed and crystal meth to make an increasingly popular range of legal highs. Mike Power reports on the substances…
Tag Archive for mephedrone
Druglink article 2010 – Booze, bans and bite-size bags by Max Daly
The ban on mephedrone, the recession and Britain’s rising alcohol problems have all left their imprints on the UK drug market over the last year, according to Druglink Street Drug Trends 2010. Feedback from frontline drug services, police forces, drug action teams and…
Druglink news item 2010 – NRG brand masks illegal mephedrone sales by Andrew McNicoll and Mike Power
A series of banned drugs are being sold disguised as ‘legal high’ brands like NRG-1, tests have revealed. Most NRG-1 or NRG-2 branded products tested in separate studies by police, academics and drug user forums contained recently outlawed Class B drugs including mephedrone, flephedrone, MDPV and butylone…
Druglink factsheet 2010 -Mephedrone
What it is, legal status, prevalence, effects and risks Mephedrone (PDF)
Druglink article 2010 – Feline frenzy by Andrew McNicoll
The intensity of the media storm over the now banned cocaine-ecstasy substitute mephedrone was a phenomenon to behold.Andrew McNicoll examines the part played by the press in one of the most short-lived, yet explosive, drug scares for decades ‘KILLER drug meow meow…
Druglink article 2010 – World wired web by Mike Power
The powerful legal stimulant, mephedrone, has opened the door to a seemingly unstoppable virtual drugs market. Mike Power, the first journalist to report on mephedrone in Druglink last March, tracks its journey from Chinese labs to Britain’s streets. In May 2004, on an…
Druglink article 2010 – Teenage kicks by Max Daly
How did the isolated County Durham village of Cockfield kick off a nationwide panic over legal highs? In the vast, thinly populated landscape that dominates the peaceful district of Teesdale in south west County Durham, lies the old mining village of Cockfield. It has a…
Druglink article 2012 – ‘Drone strikes by Max Daly
Despite the 2010 ban on mephedrone, drug services are seeing increasing numbers of people coming forward to report serious problems with the drug. Mephedrone, known variously as mcat,bubble and fert is a powerful stimulant whose use appeared to dip after being controlled as a…
Druglink article 2012 – Rock-star amounts at pocket money prices by Mike Power
The ban on mephedrone has done little to reduce its popularity – with some areas witnessing a marked upswing in use – and incidents of self-harm. Rock-star amounts at pocket money prices (PDF)
Druglink/DrugWatch factsheet 2013 – Mephedrone
Mephedrone is the most widely used of a range of synthetic cathinones that have similar stimulant and entactogenic (‘loved up’) effects to ecstasy. Its effects, particularly when injected, have been compared to cocaine. It is pharmacologically related to cathinone – an alkaloid found in the ‘khat’ plant (Catha…