Mephedrone, the ‘legal high’ that made national headlines last week, has been all over the Island’s drug scene and been connected to the death of teenager Luke Cowan.
“It’s definitely been around since last June time. That’s when we started seeing people come in and hearing people talk about it more,” said Chris, manager of the Cranstoun Drug Centre
MMCat, miaow
Known under a few name like MMCat and miaow, its effects are like cocaine or MDMA, marketed as ‘ecstasy for adults’.
Distributed rapidly as a ‘legal high’ via the Internet, staff at the Drug Centre have needed special training to respond to the drug, which is entirely new.
An unknown entity
“I could give you years and years of research on ecstasy,” said Chris, manager of Ryde’s Cranstoun Drug Centre. “The production of mephedrone really comes from China and we have got no history with it.”
The Drug Centre has been seeing mephedrone addicts in increasing numbers. Most have little understanding of how potent the drug is.
“In the past month we’ve had at least ten people come in. A lot of them are saying ‘it’s legal, so it’s safe,’ which really isn’t true. We’ve seen all ages. We’ve had people come in that have never taken drugs before at all,” Chris said.
Mixing it is extremely dangerous
“So far, what we do know is it pushes the blood pressure up. Some people can get coldness, numbness and a blue tinge to their knees. Physically, there’s damage to the nose or mouth when people are actually bombing it and causing sores. People have been coming in saying they’ve been using it over a period of time and the weight loss has been horrific.”
An extremely cheap, ‘more-ish’ drug, addicts can consume a huge amount in one session to try to maintain the high. Mixing the drug is extremely dangerous: “When people come in it may not be that’s their main substance. A lot of people are taking it with alcohol and they’re not taking it in small doses – four to five grams at a time. If you then add another substance, then you’ve got something in your body that’s pretty unknown.”
Intense cravings
“We’re seeing people in the fall-out after taking it. They’re very agitated, they can’t sleep and are craving more. When you look at the chemical construction, it’s very similar to the way amphetamines effect people.”
“We work with everyone on an individual basis. One of the most helpful things is for them to have more understanding of the substance they’re taking. For example, we know that one of the components of mephedrone is used in industrial cleaners.”
A heavy impact
“We see physical changes, psychological changes and social problems. We get people coming in and saying their partner has kicked them out, or their friends don’t want to be around them any more, or their families don’t want them in the house. You can see a total mind change in someone. There are some people I know personally that can’t believe how much this has affected someone.”
“It’s about awareness really,” he said. “Some people have got it completely wrong. More are starting to realise it’s a problem. We’ve been seeing more people coming in on their own, to get treatment on their own.”
