Mephedrone
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What is Mephedrone
Mephedrone (often called ‘meow meow’)
is a powerful stimulant and is part of the
cathinone family, a group of drugs that
are closely related to
the amphetamines – including
amphetamine itself (often called
‘speed’), methamphetamine and ecstasy
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Mephedrone
sold as ‘plant food –
not for human consumption’
4-MMC, Bounce,
Bubble, Charge,
Drone, M-Cat,
MC, Meow
Meow, Meph,
Miaow,
White Magic.
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Mephedrone quickly
stopped being just a laugh
‘my heart was beating so quickly, I was very
paranoid and everything started feeling spaced
out. My head ached and my friends urged me to
drink some water because I was so dehydrated,
yet I was frightened to drink too much and die. I
was finding it hard to breathe
After 19 hours with no sleep, I had a huge
comedown and everything seemed horrible, I
slept all day’
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Teenager, 18, plunged to his
death after climbing
scaffolding while
high on meow meow
July 2010
Aidan McSweeney, 18, sustained
multiple injuries when he fell from
the rooftop after taking drug
mephedrone
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His distraught mother Lynne Bucinikas, described her son
as a ‘sensitive' boy who became a victim of peer pressure
• Aidan McSweeney had not slept for three
days before his death, while on the drug,
his mother said
She said her son wanted to fit in with his
peers
• Aidan's mother believed he climbed the
scaffolding during a drug-fuelled prank
‘Before he died we
heard that he had
not slept for three
days on this drug.
We were told that
other times he woke
up in unfamiliar
places with no idea
how he got there’.
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Northampton teen’s
death led to ‘substantial’
mephedrone discovery
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‘
A medical student
was knifed to
death in a "brutal,
cold and ruthless"
attack by a gang of
men who plotted to
steal his supply of
the banned drug
mephedrone
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News Head Lines
• Coroner confirms mephedrone death
• A teenager who crashed into two cars while under the influence of
the "legal high" mephedrone has been fined and banned from
driving
• A man from East Sussex has died after taking the legal drug
mephedrone
• The mother of a 17-year-old boy who killed himself has said she
believes the 'legal high' mephedrone was responsible for his suicide.
• A woman who has died in North Yorkshire had recently taken the
legal drug mephedrone, police have been told.
Third of clubbers who take
mephedrone may be
addicted, survey finds
Contrary to the belief
that mephedrone is
less harmful than
drugs like cocaine,
many users showed
signs of dependence
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A recent survey for the
dance magazine
Mixmag found that
67% of mephedrone
users reported excess
sweating;
51% headaches;
43% heart palpitations;
27% nausea;
15% cold or blue
fingers.
Home Office figures drawn from the
authoritative British Crime Survey
estimate that around 300,000 16 to 24year-olds, or 4.4% of their age group,
used mephedrone in the past 12 months.
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Mephedrone: The Risks
• Users have reported blue or cold
fingers – this is probably because
mephedrone affects the heart and the
circulation.
• Some users have also had severe
nosebleeds.
• There were six deaths involving
mephedrone reported in 2010 in
England and Wales.
• Overheating has been a significant
cause of deaths when other
amphetamine-type drugs, such as
ecstasy, have been used along with
mephedrone
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Mephedrone and the
law
• Mephedrone is a Class B drug –
so it’s illegal to have for
yourself, give away or sell.
• Possession is illegal and can
get you up to five years in jail
and/or an unlimited fine.
• Supplying someone else, even
your friends, can get you
fourteen years in jail and/or an
unlimited fine.
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Effects on User
• Hallucinations.
• feel sick, paranoid and anxious, and it can
cause vomiting and headaches.
• It risks overstimulating and damaging your
heart and your circulation
• heart palpitations, insomnia, loss of short-term
memory, vertigo (a form of dizziness), grinding
of teeth, sweating and uncomfortable changes
in body temperature.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englandnorthamptonshire-15775658
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