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Meow Meow Drug (Mephedrone) To Be Reclassified

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Mephedrone, a legal drug known in the streets as Meow, Meow is to be reclassified as of midnight tonight. This deadly drug, very similar to ecstasy, is sold with ease all over the Internet as plant fertiliser. This drug is said to give extremely quick and fantastic highs which produce horrendous hallucinations. The low comes quickly too, but lasts in some cases for as long as three weeks, accompanied by rashes and depression.




Mephedrone is extremely addictive, which is not surprising because it's not meant for human consumption. People taking this drug experience very low periods when the only thing they can think about is getting their next fix. It's known for causing breathing difficulties, nose bleeds and even strong paranoia.


I've read some of the forums where drug users were discussing their personal experiences in taking meow meow. One person said he'd been awake for 56 hours. Many said they started as a joke and end up being so hooked, they could not stop even though they tried. Recently I read an item reporting news of a young man who hallucinated so terribly, he pulled off his own scrotum after taking this drug. At the time of writing, M-cat (meow meow) can be passed through customs without any problems as it's legal 'plant food.' It's shipped and delivered as a normal, average package with no questions asked. 


Mephedrone, which can be snorted, licked or swallowed, was never actually intended as plant food. It has always been manufactured as a drug. Having been on the streets of Britain for only two years, it's clear that it has spread to dangerous levels because it's already the fourth most used drug here after cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy. 




From midnight tonight meow meow is no longer legal. It's to be reclassified as a B drug which means anyone found in possession could have a maximum sentence of five years. So many young people have already died. Hopefully this new law will put a lid on this madness.

14 comments:

PDAllen said...

I never heard of this stuff before. Don't know if it's legal in the US.

Good thing it will be reclassified in the UK. I'm afraid that won't stop people though, not if they really want to try it.

myletterstoemily said...

it's tragic how many ways people can
destroy their lives.

thank you for another excellent piece.

Anonymous said...

This is very sad. People need to learn to find joy and meaning in their lives, rather than in drugs.

I'm in the states and haven't heard of this drug.

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid you've fallen for the media hype hook, line and sinker. Very little of your article stands up to scientific examination.

Loree said...

This is worth looking into.

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

Thanks everyone.

Anonymous, glad you could come aboard. Perhaps you could set me straight where the scientific facts are concerned.
Could I ask which one of my facts is wrong. Is it that meow meow is not a drug, is not used as a drug, is not sold as a form to get high, is not dangerous for human consumption, is not one molecule different from ecstasy, does not cause rashes, rapid heart beat or hallucinations, has not killed several kids?
Please let me know soon so I could correct my article. The last thing I want to do is mislead, especially younger children who want information on this topic.
Thank you.

Roland Denning said...

I'm sorry, but this article is dangerous nonsense.
Mephedrone is basically an amphetamine, chemically not that different from MDMA (ecstasy). There is NO evidence that is has killed anybody, although it has been found in the blood of people who have died and taken a cocktail of drugs, including alcohol, which we know can kill but is legal. Given the many thousands of people who have taken this substance, there is little evidence it is particularly dangerous (of course all drugs are potentially dangerous). It is not particularly addictive, it has few after effects, it is actually a rather pleasant drug (yes, I have taken it). It does NOT "give extremely quick and fantastic highs which produce horrendous hallucinations". Until now it was available, legally, in a 99% pure form, much safer than the street drugs that people buy (it is likely that a lot of the MDMA sold on the streets is actually Mephedrone cut with other substances). The story about the man who pulled off his scrotum was a myth, which started as a JOKE on a forum.

Of course we need to know more about this substance, of course it is potentially dangerous, but this knee-jerk, uniformed reaction will just drive it undergro-und, making it much more dangerous and uncontrollable.

PDAllen said...

Thanks for clarifying, Roland. After reading your comment, I did a little net research. I couldn't find anything that verified the dangers mentioned in this article. I did find several posts on Erowid about personal experiences. Most of them sound fairly innocuous.

Definitely, we need to learn more about this substance and how it affects people.

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

Dear R. Denning, Thanks for popping by. I have done my research on this topic. In addition to this, I've spent hours on the meow meow forums reading and sifting through things actual users were saying about this drug.

I did not say this before, but I'm a part-time youth worker (and a parent of a pre-teen child). This is my personal and emotional investment in the matter.

I respect that you have your opinion and will not change it just because of what I've written. Equally, I wish for you to respect MY opinion based on my research. I do not expect you to BELIEVE me. I do not believe you.

People who read this have to make up their own minds. Many people will already have a biased opinion either way. At worst, this article will bring about a wider awareness about M-cat. People are free to do their own research.

Thanks for your comment.

Roland Denning said...

Anne -

What we need is reasoned debate, not media hysteria, and quoting stories like the the anecdote about the man who pulled off his scrotum (which has now been established as totally fictitious) does not help. You may well disagree with me, but saying you 'don't believe' me implies that I am telling lies. I am not. I disagree with you, but I would never suggest that you are insincere or nor telling the truth as you see it.

What is worrying to me is that we have a government advisory panel, staffed by experts, to look at these issues, and yet the government would rather react to media panic. That is not all productive, and this is largely why many have resigned from the drugs advisory panel. I think we would both agree that what is important is to limit the harm done to young people (in fact, harm to everybody). Newspapers like to create horror stories that shock. The reality is very different.

Like all drugs, legal and illegal, there are dangers associated with this substance, particularly when used in excess. But it is also crucial to maintain credibility with users and potential users, and repeating scare stories from the newspapers that have little basis in reality is not going to help. I think very few of the tens of thousands of people who have used this drug would recognise the very emotive description given in your first paragraph.

Glynis Peters said...

Interesting post and debate.
The Lancet has an interesting article related to this issue.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673610605594/fulltext?rss=yes

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

Thank you, Gynis.

R. Denning,
Don't be offended. I did not AT ALL, imply that you lied. On the other hand, if you believed ME, we wouldn't be having this discussion. It is clear that we do not believe each other's take on the situation. This was my point.

You seem fixated on that one incident I mentioned in the article. There are several others, and to be honest, after reading about this incident in the papers and hearing about it on BBC radio 2, I've heard nothing else to suggest it was all made up.

I think 2 people resigned (not many). Again, we're obviously getting our information from completely different sources.

You said in your first comment that there is NO evidence this drug has killed anyone. It was only found in the blood of people who died after taking it. Using this logic, I can conclude therefore, that there is NO evidence cocaine or ecstasy has killed anyone. They were merely found in the blood of people who died after taking them and other drugs.

You said M-cat wasn't addictive, but as a user (someone who's taken it), I'm sure you know that people react differently to various drugs. I have a glass of wine occasionally. For me, wine is not addictive. I have a neighbour who's an alcoholic. Do you think it's fair for me then to assume alcohol is NOT addictive?

I re-read my first paragraph and did not find anything particularly emotive about it. Meow meow is similar to ecstasy, many people have died after taking it. Users have confessed to getting extremely high highs and low lows. Rashes and depression come hand in hand. It's sold with ease on the Internet.

Let me say also that bloggers manage their sites so that they can express their opinion on the subjects about which they blog. My emotions and views are the very thing that make my blog different from yours, my friends', my associates'. Why have a blog otherwise? If one visits Jane's sites, they do so to read Jane's opinions and the results of her personal research.

Again, I welcome your involvement in this discussion. I want to re-iterate I did not think or imply that you're a liar. Sorry if you felt this is what I was doing.

If there was any attack, it was from you in your opening line (first comment). I welcomed you to my site even though YOU came to me and made an attack. I did not delete any of your comments.

Anne

Anne Lyken-Garner said...

I also forgot to say that the main person who resigned did so mainly because he felt that banning the drug was criminalising the young people who used it.

He did not feel this was the right thing to do (making young users criminals). He felt that getting them to stop taking it could've been done in a different way.

I doubt for a moment he was saying the Government should let them use it because it was fine.

Roland Denning said...

Thank you for that useful link, Glynis.

Anne -

There have been 7 resignations from the Advisory Council on The Misuse of Drugs since Professor David Nutt was dismissed in November. These are not all connected with Mephedrone, but they are directly relevant to the point I was making - the government responds to media pressure rather than scientific advice.

There was a thorough report on Radio 4 about the scrotum story and all the other panic stories concerning the drug. The researcher contacted not only the press and websites but the police and local authorities involved. None of the tabloid scare stories could be substantiated.

I stand by my point that Mephedrone has not been confirmed as the cause of death in any case. I do not want to promote the idea it is innocuous, but it is simply incorrect to say or imply we know it is lethal. I certainly would not want to see the parents of young people who have bought this drug filled with fear and panic - despite the many tens of thousands of people who have been using the drug over the last two years, there have been very very few casualties. I repeat, that I am not saying this drug is not dangerous, it is just essential to keep what facts we have in perspective. Yes, we know little about the long term affects of this substance. We need more research, openness and unbiased advice.

Like you, I enjoy an an occasional glass of wine. Like you, I know alcoholics. I know people who have died through alcohol (many more than through any other drug). Alcohol is a potentially dangerous substance, but I do not believe it should be banned. But it would be easy to write an article, very similar to the one you have written about alcohol addiction and the terrible effects it has on young people.

I appreciate the fact you did not delete my comments, and I apologise if my phrase "dangerous nonsense" was offensive. My main concern with this hasty legislation is that Mephedrone will carry on being sold illegally (dealers must have bought in massive stocks when rumours of the ban started a couple of months ago) but most likely cut with other substances. Chinese laboratories are already working on substitutes which we know even less about to circumvent the law. The real question is will this ban improve the lives and health of young people? We may disagree with the answer, but our overall concerns I'm sure are the same.

thank you for listening to my argument

Roland

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