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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. There is very little evidence about mephedrone and what long-term effects it has, but there have reports of people hospitalised due to the short-term effects.
Also, you can never be entirely sure that what you’re buying is actually mephedrone and not something else.
The main effects and risks of mephedrone include:
What does mephedrone look like?
Mephedrone can be found as a fine white, off-white or a yellowish powder. It was originally sold over the internet as a ‘legal’ alternative to drugs like speed, ecstasy and cocaine.
But to get around the law, dealers said that the mephedrone they were selling was plant food or a bath salt and not for human consumption. On average a gram of mephedrone costs between £20 and £30.
How do people take mephedrone?
Mephedrone is usually snorted like cocaine or is wrapped in paper and swallowed (‘bombed’ is a slang name used for this). It can also be found as capsules and pills and can be smoked. In rare cases mephedrone has been injected.
Injecting mephedrone, and sharing injecting equipment including needles and syringes, runs the risk of the person injecting catching or spreading a virus, such as HIV or hepatitis C.
There is also the risk that veins may be damaged and that something nasty will develop, such as an abscess or a clot.
What does mephedrone do?
Mephedrone is often described as a mix between amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine. The effects of mephedrone last for about an hour, but this can vary.
Other effects that people have reported include heart palpitations, insomnia, loss of short-term memory, vertigo (a form of dizziness), grinding of teeth, sweating and uncomfortable changes in body temperature.
Taking mephedrone does involve risks – and the dangers and long-term effects are becoming clearer as more reports emerge. Here’s what we know:
Mephedrone and alcohol
You increase the risks to yourself if you combine alcohol with mephedrone or any other drug that causes a ‘high’ – including increasing the risk of death.
What is mephedrone cut with?
Mephedrone is sometimes mixed or cut with other substances, such as caffeine. In some cases, the powder people buy from a dealer contains no mephedrone at all!
Can you get addicted to mephedrone?
The simple answer is – yes – you can get addicted to mephedrone. Reports say that mephedrone use can lead to a strong psychological dependence on the drug, and can lead to the user craving – and taking – increasing amounts.
This kind of behaviour increases all of the above risks to your health. Some users say that once they have started a mephedrone session, they find it very difficult to stop until they’ve used their entire supply - this is sometimes called ‘fiending’.
Mephedrone and the law
What if you’re caught?
If the Police catch you with mephedrone, they’ll always take some action. This could include a formal caution, arrest and prosecution.
A conviction for a drug-related offence could have a serious impact. It can stop you visiting certain countries – for example the United States – and limit the types of jobs you can apply for.
Did you know?
Like drinking and driving, driving when high is illegal - and you can still be unfit to drive the day after using mephedrone. You can get a heavy fine, be disqualified from driving or even go to prison.
Allowing other people to use drugs in your house or any other premises is illegal. If the police catch someone using drugs in a club they can prosecute the landlord, club owner or person holding the party.
I tried mephedrone for the first time last year around October. I first thought it was a one off, just a laugh. See what all the fuss was about. I didn’t think it could be to bad seeing as it was a legal drug. Though it quickly became I was taking it every weekend. I steadily starting increasing the amount I was taking because my tolerance increased.
I smoked weed quite a lot, its because I got into the wrong crowed and started it.
Mephedrone appeared on the scene about two years ago in Manchester and being part of a group of regular recreational drug users we were all some of the first in line to give this dirt cheap alternative stimulant a go. At first we were all very impressed and were fast to sing the drugs praises. Firstly it was dirt cheap, £10 a gram mates rates instead of the standard £50 for a gram of MDMA! The rush felt like my first ever pill everytime, I loved all the people in the room and gurned my face off.
A few months ago i tried Meow (mephedrone) after my friend who had been doing it for a year had told me how amazing it was! And at first it was amazing, the feeling of being 'Buzzing' was indescribable, everything was just timed by 10. Your love for people grew, and the possibility to do something grew too. I ended up jumping in a freezing cold lake, which instantly gave me a panic attack, as my heart was already beating fast because of the meow, but the coldness put me into a shock.
This depends on which drug you are talking about and what method is being used to test for the drug. The list below shows the drug detection times (using a urine test) for the most common drugs:
By mixing drugs you increase the chances of having a bad time. The effects of the drugs might be greatly increased, the drugs might interact in an unexpected way or one drug may stop part of your body working properly which makes the other drug(s) that have been taken more dangerous.
All drugs are potentially dangerous and have varying effects on individuals, so it is not possible to name the worst drug. For more information on the effects and risks of various drugs go to the A-Z of drugs.
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