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Mephedrone

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Mephedrone
Clinical data
Routes of
administration		Oral, Insufflated
Legal status
Legal status
  • Illegal in Israel, Sweden and the US (analogue law)
Identifiers
  • 1-(4-methylphenyl)-2-methylaminopropan-1-one
ChemSpider
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)
ECHA InfoCard100.189.720 Edit this at Wikidata
Chemical and physical data
FormulaC11H15NO
Molar mass177.242 g·mol−1
Mephedrone redirects here and should not be confused with the opioid drug Methadone or the ephedrine analogue Meph (n-Methyl-Ephedrine).

4-Methylmethcathinone (Mephedrone, 4-MMC) is a stimulant drug related to cathinone and methcathinone. The effects of mephedrone are reportedly comparable to those of similar drugs such as MDMA and methylone.[1][citation needed]

History

The drug was used in early products by the legal high company Neorganics[2], but the range was discontinued in January 2008 after the government of Israel, where the company is based, made mephedrone illegal. It has been reported to be sold as a designer drug,[3] but little is known about its pharmacology or toxicology as of yet.[2] Mephedrone has recently been reported as having been sold as "ecstasy" in the Australian city of Cairns, along with ethylcathinone.[4][5][6]

Toxicity

At present, very little is known about the toxicity of 4-methylmethcathinone.

On December 14, 2008 an 18-year-old Swedish woman died in Stockholm after taking mephedrone.

Mephedrone was scheduled to be classified as a "dangerous substance" even before the girl's death at Karolinska University Hospital on Sunday, 14 December, but the death brought much more media attention to the drug. The handling of mephedrone became classified as a criminal offence on Monday, December 15.[7]

The 18-year-old and some friends took the substance in combination with cannabis on Friday, 12 December night. An ambulance was soon called to Bandhagen after the girl went into convulsions and turned blue in the face, Svenska Dagbladet reports.[8]

After several alleged incidents including deaths among teenagers, mephedrone is illegal in Sweden since December 15, 2008[7][9] and has also reportedly been illegal in Israel since January 2008. Some psychiatrists in the UK have urged that the drug be banned in the UK.[10]

References

  1. ^ A New Stimulus
  2. ^ a b "Bluelight - View Single Post - Neo-doves Part II".
  3. ^ Davies S. Drug Trends and New Designer Drugs. St George's University of London. 6th November 2008.
  4. ^ Killer pills hit Cairns
  5. ^ Police warn of potentially fatal 'fake ecstasy'
  6. ^ Ecstasy users warned of drug switch
  7. ^ a b "Teenager dies of 'net drug' overdose - The Local".
  8. ^ "Woman died of mephedrone".
  9. ^ "Substansen mefedron klassas som hälsofarlig vara" (in Swedish). Swedish National Institute of Public Health (Folkhälsoinstitutet). Retrieved 2008-12-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5244428/Psychiatrists-call-for-legal-high-drug-4-MMC-to-be-banned.html
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