Mephedrone may be banned, chief drug adviser indicates

AW: Mephedrone may be banned, chief drug adviser indicates

Comment: Can we halt the flow of new designer drugs?

Could the dangers of 'legal high' mephedrone have been predicted? Of course they could, says John Mann


The recent deaths of two young men, apparently from the effects of the 'legal high' mephedrone, have re-emphasised the difficulties faced by the UK government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Already disrupted by the furore over the sacking of chair David Nutt last October, the reconstituted council has promised to advise the Home Secretary about mephedrone by 29 March, despite key scientific positions on the council remaining vacant following a mass walk-out in the wake of Nutt's dismissal.

But could the dangers of this drug have been predicted? Of course they could.

Mephedrone is a structural analogue of (S)-(-)-cathinone, the major psychoactive constituent of the euphoriant khat. This extract of the plant Catha edulis has been widely used in the Middle East since at least the 14th century. The reported central nervous system (CNS) activities of mephedrone, which include euphoria, enhanced confidence and an urge to socialise, are usually compared to those of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA), and both compounds are clearly structurally related to the class A drug methamphetamine or speed - one of the most potent amphetamines. Originally categorised as a class B substance under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, methamphetamine was upgraded to class A in 2006 and penalties for its supply can be severe.

In the US the Federal Analog Act covers all compounds that are 'substantially similar' to the most highly controlled substances and they can then be treated in the same way as that controlled substance. Although this section of the all-encompassing US Controlled Substances Act has had a number of legal interpretations, it is now routinely used to include any structural analogue that has stimulant, depressant or hallucinogenic actions in the CNS. Unsurprisingly, mephedrone has not yet been much used in the US.

Under present legislation the UK's ACMD considers one designer drug at a time and reports to the Home Secretary. Yet the designer drugs market is being supplied with dozens of new substances each year, many of them, like mephedrone, being produced by chemists in China.

Chemists trained as part of China's huge contribution to the generic (pharmaceutical) drug market would be well qualified to both design and produce the relatively simple structures of a whole range of novel substances if they so desired. None of this is new and the amphetamines have been the target of illicit chemical activities since the 1960s. What has changed is the scale of the chemistry, the competence of the operatives and access to the internet for dissemination of information and even sales. Against this background it is difficult to see how the ACMD can respond on a drug by drug basis.

The solution is to follow the US model. A good patent lawyer could easily compile an all-encompassing list of potential analogues, all of which could then be designated class A or B according to the classification of the parent drug. This should avoid the sale of the new substances via the internet under the pretence that they are plant foods (as with mephedrone) or health foods, and make life more difficult for the designers and dealers. The occasional appearance of completely new drugs like Spice Gold, based on the structure N-butyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)indole, first prepared by John Huffman of Clemson University in 1995 and shown by him to have cannabinoid-like activity, will have to be dealt with on a compound by compound basis. However, a list of all likely analogues can quickly be assembled and then covered by a blanket ban.



One criticism of such a prophylactic blanket ban would be that it could interfere with the activities of the pharmaceutical industry or chemical supply companies. However, the former is used to supplying its products via well regulated pharmacies, and the latter have had to come to terms with greater scrutiny due to the threat of terrorism. A further fear that a blanket ban would unnecessarily criminalise substances that might ultimately prove to be harmless, is worth the risk. After all, one young life saved is worth the odd mistakes in classification.

John Mann is emeritus professor of chemistry at Queen's University Belfast and author of Turn on and tune in: Psychedelics, narcotics and euphoriants


23 March 2010
source:http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2010/March/23031002.asp

Edit: Cant fix the Photo proper today!
Will try tomorrow again :s

Mephedrone 'likely to become Class B drug'

Mephedrone is likely to be made a Class B drug, the Government's chief drugs advisor indicated today.

Professor Les Iversen, the chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), said his personal view was mephedrone was "amphetamines by another name".

In evidence to the Home Affairs Committee, he said any deaths linked to the drug were a "tragedy".

But he defended the need to conduct research into the effects of mephedrone - known as M-Cat or Miaow Miaow - before it was banned.

Addressing the MPs he said: "I am not here to give my personal views...but as a pharmacologist these drugs are amphetamines by another name and I know that amphetamines are harmful.

"I think you can deduce my conclusions from that."

Amphetamines are currently a Class B drug along with cannabis.

Putting mephedrone in Class B would mean carrying the drug would be punishable with a jail term of up to five years and dealing it with up to to 14 years in prison.

The Committee's chairman Keith Vaz said he would be writing to Home Secretary Alan Johnson to complain about the delay in banning mephedrone.

He said: "We will be writing following this session to the Home Secretary about these matters.

"We just think the delay is most unsatisfactory given the dangers that are inherent (in taking mephedrone)."

The ACMD is due to present its report on mephedrone to ministers on Monday afternoon.

At that stage ministers are likely to indicate that they are in favour of a ban, but it could be many months before a ban comes into force.

Prof Iversen said it was "remarkable" how quickly the fashion for taking mephedrone had grown.

And he said a temporary ban while the evidence was being considered would not be effective.

In order for a ban to work, it would need to include the entire category of drug and not just individual substances, he said.

Ministers faced criticism for not having banned mephedrone following the deaths of two teenage boys in Scunthorpe last week.

The families of Louis Wainwright, 18, and Nicholas Smith, 19, joined calls from teachers' leaders for an immediate ban.

Police are today investigating the death of a 24-year-old woman thought to have taken the drug in Norton, North Yorkshire.

Mephedrone was virtually unknown until early last year but it is now one of the most popular drugs in nightclubs and is widely available online.

It is usually a white or yellowish powder, which is snorted, but can also be obtained in pills and capsules.

Users report effects similar to cocaine and ecstasy but also suffer side-effects such as heart palpitations, high blood pressure and nose bleeds.

Other side-effects are said to include weight loss, insomnia and psychosis.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "Professor Iversen is completely right to say the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs must be allowed to conduct proper research before mephedrone can be made illegal.

"It is a travesty that the Government's interference with the advice of its independent scientific advisers has delayed this drug from being banned."

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: "This is a welcome development. But the Government was warned years ago about the risks posed by legal highs and these steps should have been taken long ago."

By Jack Doyle
March 23, 2010
Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mephedrone-likely-to-become-class-b-drug-1925874.html

Well we've all been saying how the press has stormed ahead with assumptions that 4-MMC was directly responsible for these deaths and that each and every case had a polydrug aspect to it.

I think that it would be far more valuable, in a harm reduction context, for the scientific community to first establish how and under what circumstances Mephedrone use may be harmful. At least that could be published and distributed in order to encourage users away from many of the reckless practices like massively high dosing and simultaneous consumption of CNS depressant drugs which, while tolerable under the stimulant effects of Mephedrone, risk then becoming fatal overdoses when it wears off.

If the government focuses on actual harm reduction priorities for a change they might actually accomplish something worthwhile instead of appeasing the 'angry mob' (readers of British Tabloid newspapers, purveyors of such cerebral headlines as 'Gotcha!' - The sinking of the General Belgrano with the loss of several hundred lives and numerous 'My drugs hell' celebrity self-promotion and public appeasement following being caught doing a drug you don't drink).

Update 1254: Home Office lawyers have been poring over the Misuse of Drugs Act and believe that, even without the requisite vet, the Advisory Council can report and the government can legislate for a ban. A spokesperson has said:

"Based on its current formation, the ACMD is still able to fulfil its statutory role and provide advice on mephedrone today on which we can act. We have said we intend to act immediately on receipt of the ACMD's advice and this is still our intention."

When the drug laws don't work.

But they have taken into account the most esteemed scientific journal of all time, namely MixMag!

Whilst it doesn't surprise me that they are likely to go ahead with a ban regardless of the lack of scientific evidence at this stage, it's still disappointing to see business-as-usual being the outcome of this media frenzy.