British clubbers turn to new legal high

[itshappening]

The UK's 4th most popular drug 'mephedrone' is completely legal but lets see how long until the fun killing politicians ban it

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The powerful legal high mephedrone is becoming much more widely used on the British club scene, a survey suggests.

One in three readers of dance magazine Mixmag polled for an academic study have used the powder in the last month.

The results make mephedrone the fourth most popular substance in the survey.

"Mephedrone has gone from nowhere to the mainstream in under two years," said Dr Adam Winstock from the National Addiction Centre, who led the research.

"For a drug that's been around for a relatively short amount of time, mephedrone has certainly made a big impact on the dance drug scene."

The Home Office has said it is now a "priority" to find out more about the dangers of mephedrone use.

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

[Elwar]

Just don't let anyone find out that you can get high on oxygen.

[brandon]

One of the biggest dangers of the "War on Drugs" and our general dependence on the government for food and drug safety is that many people assume anything that is legal can't be that bad for you.

[Zippyjuan]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1231538/Mephedrone-menace-The-deadly-drug-thats-cheap-easy-order-pizza--totally-legal.html
It is not exactly safe to use- even if it may not be illegal.

The downside? Side-effects include convulsions, breathing problems, nose bleeds, depression, psychosis - and, in some cases, even death.

Mephedrone, imported from laboratories in China, is believed to have first entered Britain last year. By the summer, it was sweeping through clubs and parties throughout the country.

Only now, though, are the dangers becoming apparent. Last weekend, 14-year-old Gabrielle Price died after taking a suspected drug cocktail including Mephedrone at a house party in Brighton. A friend who was there said Mephedrone was being taken by children as young as 11 who assumed it was safe because it's not illegal.

Youngsters all over Britain are now turning up in casualty after experimenting with Mephedrone. In the Durham area, five victims have been hospitalised in recent weeks. In one case, a reveller suffered horrifying self-inflicted injuries during a Mephedrone-induced 'high'.

Tribute: 'Gabi was a lively and lovely girl whose untimely death has left enormous holes in the lives of her family and wide circle of friends', said her grandfather
One young woman tells today how her friend's eyes 'rolled back in her head' and she then began 'foaming' at the mouth after taking the drug at a music festival.

Mephedrone has already been banned in some European countries - including Norway and Finland, where it has been linked with a string of deaths.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1231538/Mephedrone-menace-The-deadly-drug-thats-cheap-easy-order-pizza--totally-legal.html#ixzz0cWnwgYpn



Mephedrone is often combined with Ketamine, a horse tranquilliser, which helps to relax you after the Mephedrone high. The street name 'meow meow' derives from the fact Ketamine is sometimes called Ket. Ket sounds like cat (as in meow meow).



http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/dec/05/mephedrone-problem-legal-highs

On an internet drugs forum, where thousands of people from all over the world share information and experiences, mephedrone users report experiencing vomiting, nosebleeds (the drug is often snorted), chest pains and high heart rate, breathing problems and panic attacks. One user describes how it turned him blue, another describes "electric shocks in the head". One user writes about a friend going to hospital after taking it and finding the emergency doctors had never heard of mephedrone and didn't know about its effects or how to treat them. The theme throughout many of the threads is the unknown risk aspect.

Mephedrone has already been banned in Sweden (where it was linked to the death of a young woman last year), Denmark and Israel. A spokeswoman for the Home Office says "the ACMD are looking into [mephedrone] as a priority as part of their review into legal highs. They will report back next year and their advice will inform our response". This month, three "legal highs" – BZP, GBL and a cannabis substitute known as spice – will be banned after they were linked to several deaths.