The low down on mephedrone in Middlesbrough

UK drug charity Lifeline has been carrying out research in Middlesbrough into the use of mephedrone. The research involved focus groups of mephedrone users most of whom regarded the drug as superior to cocaine and ecstasy. Just over half of the users bought it over the Internet with the rest buying it in nightclubs. The drug was regarded as a stimulant and a hallucinogen and the majority of users mixed it with alcohol or cannabis to heighten its effects or ease the comedown. Most users swallowed the drug as snorting it can lead to painful nose burns. Few side effects were reported by the users although these included erratic heart beats, dry mouth and shrunken genitals.

You can download a copy of the Lifeline report at

http://www.lifeline.org.uk/feature.php?idnum=76

Mephedrone is the new drug on the U.K. club scene

People who want to get high and the authorities often engage in a game of cat and mouse with new drugs emerging as old ones are clamped down on. The latest 'legal high' to appear on the U.K. club scene is mephedrone which is usually snorted, although it can also be taken in pill form, mixed with drinks or injected. The drug is sold on the Internet as 'plant food' (it won't improve your geraniums) and is said to produce an effect like a cross between cocaine and ecstasy. In a poll for the dance music magazine Mixmag one in three readers said they had taken the drug. The poll was carried out on behalf of the National Addictions Centre at King's College London and found that 51% of users suffered from headaches, 43% from heart palpitations, 29% from nausea and 15% from cold or blue fingers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/health/newsid_10000000/newsid_10004300/10004366.stm