Mephedrone is a recent designer drug, commonly referred to as bath salts , and is one of the most popular recreationally used new psychoactive substances.
Like MDMA, it shares similarities with stimulants and with hallucinogens, and psychopharmacological research indicates that it is similar to stimulant drugs, such as amphetamines. Although new on the drug scene, there has been some limited research documenting the effects of mephedrone.
This is what users say it feels like to get high on mephedrone. A study of mephedrone users indicated that an average dose, of 97mg, with mg typically being consumed over the course of a drug-using session.
The typical first session lasted for 6 hours, and other drugs were used in conjunction with mephedrone. In subsequent sessions, most took mg intranasally by snorting, or orally.
The injection is much less common but has been documented, sometimes with severe negative consequences. These later experiences typically lasted 10 hours, during which mg, with 60 minute breaks between dosages.
Use of other substances continued to be the norm, and use took place in groups of ten or so. In another study, mephedrone users described a pleasant mood, euphoria, ease, suppressed appetite, dry mouth, sharpened perception, insomnia and increased energy occurring most of the time when on mephedrone.
The stimulant and energizing effects of mephedrone, as with other stimulants, are often a motivator for users to take the drug. However, lack of sleep that accompanies the use of stimulants, including mephedrone, is well known, and include mental and physical problems, particularly after longer-term use.
Entactogen effects add to the more straightforward feelings of stimulation and being wide-awake and energetic, with feelings of connection to self and others. This is described by users as feeling oneself close to others, enhanced empathy, and is most frequently attributed to the drug, ecstasy or MDMA. When these feelings of being comfortable with others, and with oneself, are combined with increased feelings of sexual desire and stimulation, enhanced mood, talkativeness, intensification of sensory experience, increased self-confidence and increased urge to move, it is easy to see how mephedrone could become a party and play drug.
Indeed, as with ecstasy, the use of mephedrone can easily transfer from the nightclub scene to sex parties. Unfortunately, this also increases the risks to users. This mephedrone craving was the most frequently reported acute effect of the drug in one study. Tiredness, insomnia, nasal congestion, and impaired concentration were the most prevalent withdrawal-related effects with nasal congestion the most intense effect. Learn the best ways to manage stress and negativity in your life.
Gregg and Baumann have shown that the S-isomer of mephedrone is more serotonergic, which would confer MDMA-like properties; while the R-isomer is known to be more stimulating. This would line up with what people have said about post-ban lacking those lovely, gooey serotonin effects.
It sounds almost too perfect. Indeed, Gregg and Baumann's study didn't appear until The idea that underground chemists were synthesizing a pure isomer without even knowing which one had the most recreational value, is so absurd that we can rule it out completely.
I was baffled. If mephedrone today was chemically the same as it was before the ban, why did it look, smell, feel so different? Zee is the Israeli chemist credited for discovering mephedrone in Once Chinese suppliers learned how to make it themselves, the drug was flooded into Europe as a cheap legal high and the rest, as they say, is history.
Mephedrone is not a drug discovery that Dr. Zee is proud of. A self-styled 'psychonaut', his goal is to learn about self and reality by transcending normal consciousness, an area of effects where mephedrone came up short. If someone can do that, that person deserves a medal. Considering his discovery was made over 15 years ago, I wonder if his memory of them days is a bit hazy. I start out by telling him how mephedrone has changed in appearance over the years.
The Chinese pre-ban stuff usually came as a fine white powder or small sugar-like crystals. Before I can ask my question, Dr. Zee interjects: "That's 4-MEC. That's not mephedrone.
Mephedrone does not create rice shards. Because of its structural closeness, it may have been identified as mephedrone in tests that cannot differentiate between the cathinones. Zee says. Most people just said they were more on the stimmy-side and lacked the sheer euphoria that the Chinese stuff had. Besides, the rice shards only dominated the market for a few years after the ban.
Thanks to drug testing labs like Ecstasydata, we know that most post-ban mephedrone is really mephedrone and not something else As a man of science, Dr. Zee has little time for subjective opinions. There is simply no data set for this type of information, and the way it has been collected makes it very difficult to analyse. However, he admits that some of the adverse effects pre-ban meph caused are suggestive of a chemical difference. It is a curious thing. But in all of my years of working in the Netherlands I've never encountered it once in that country.
It's always been reported from the UK. And why? I don't know. Indeed, none of the old-school meph users in my home city of Aberdeen had experienced those symptoms either, even though day binges were the norm.
However, a Dundonian friend of a friend used to get "blue fingers and purple palms" along with his pals off the pre-ban stuff. Curiously, his supply came not from the internet but from a guy who apparently created the compound or the mixture called Bubbles.
It really adds weight to the idea that people experiencing these symptoms were getting a cut product. Or maybe they were just freaky symptoms pre-ban meph caused. Certainly, it's not just the appearance of mephedrone that has changed since the ban; the smell has changed too. Most post-ban meph has only a light smell, usually described as bleach or vanilla-like.
However, the Chinese meph smelled so strong that you could smell it from a mile off, and that smell poured out of your body for weeks afterwards. The smell was usually described as cat piss and burnt circuit boards.
Zee says, remembering the smell. The smell came from the solvents. This interests me as my research had suggested the smell was due to lazy finishing methods.
So, if Chinese pre-ban was solvent-laced mephedrone, could the solvents have affected absorption? Maybe this could have caused the intense rush that people reported. You don't have anything save individual molecules coursing through the bloodstream or through the brain fluid for that matter. So, the solvents or any contamination is treated differently from the active itself. It's another theory ruled out. However, Dr. Zee believes that the smell does indeed have something to do with why pre-ban felt so different to some people.
If you read the literature about the Pepsi challenge: if you put the Coca-Cola in a blue cylinder and the Pepsi cola in a red cylinder, you'll see that people make more mistakes. They guess wrongly more often than if you put both drinks in a white cylinder.
So, it shows that the priming of the mindset plays a role in the experience that you have from the drug," he says. I was surprised to find in that I ran a batch and it was super clear and with big crystals, and people didn't want it. Because they didn't recognise it visually. I thanked Dr. Risks include severe nose bleeds, overheating, exposure to infectious disease and danger of building tolerance, dependence and drug addiction.
People use mephedrone because it produces a similar high to ecstasy, though the crash after the high is not as depressive as other illicit drugs. When someone overdoses, the limbs turn blue and other signs like chest pains and paranoia manifest. You can find help by calling an addiction helpline, speaking to your doctor or registering at a rehab facility near you. Mephedrone Symptoms and Warning Signs.
Mephedrone: A brief history Mephedrone also called 4MMC or 4-methyl ephedrine is an illicit cathinone and amphetamine class of drug. Drug addiction substance use disorder Stimulants like mephedrone increase attention, alertness and energy.
Mephedrone addiction in young adults Mephedrone usage is common amongst young people who are party goers, especially gay and bisexual men, where there is a higher prevalence of use. Mephedrone abuse: Signs, symptoms and side effects Dependence on mephedrone is only diagnosed after a proper clinical assessment. Bluing limbs Anxiety Paranoia. Get Confidential Help Now. Extreme weight loss Sudden crying Aggression Anxiety.
Signs that someone is experimenting with mephedrone Signs that a person is experimenting with mephedrone include:. Unexplained weight gain or weight loss Isolation from family Restlessness Wallets and phone disappearing around the home. Poor performance in school Disoriented behaviour Troubled relationships with others Loss of interest in social activities.
Psychological signs of mephedrone usage The psychological side effects of using mephedrone are what lead to drug dependence. Behavioural changes Changes in behaviour can include erratic mood swings, anxiety, staying away from friends and certain social cycles, lack of interest in activities that brought pleasure in the past and worst of all, psychotic behaviour after a drug binge.
Long-term health effects of mephedrone abuse There are several long-term health effects from abusing MCAT. Things to look for in a treatment program. What is mephedrone? What kind of a drug is mephedrone? Mephedrone is a synthetic designer drug that is part of the amphetamine family of narcotics.
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