Meow, Mkat, drone, there are many names for this popular designer drug which has been making the headlines recently. mephedrone has been reported to have similar stimulating affects as the popular party drug ‘ecstasy’, users feel excitement, euphoria, an increased heart beat, and rushes of energy; the one major difference is that mephedrone is a legal high. It made an appearance on the underground club scene several years ago; no one knows where it originated from, though they speculate that certain people are designing substances that can get around the government restricted lists.

Currently mephedrone has been made illegal in the U.S, Canada, Sweden and Finland, but still remains legal and available for purchase in the United Kingdom. After reports of the drug being linked to the deaths of 27 people globally and most recently two teenaged boys in the U.K. its status as a legal drug is now being quickly reassessed. There is no doubt that mephedrone is a potentially harmful substance, as there have been no medical tests conducted to find out what the long term and short term side affects are. In fact it hasn’t been around long enough for the side affects (if any) to become visible in regular users. The biggest worry regarding the criminalization of mephedrone is whether it will do more harm than good; as history shows that making drugs illegal creates a stronger demand for them and puts the production into the hands of criminal cartels, essentially worsening the situation. Currently this drug is being produced legally under controlled conditions in laboratories in China; the upside to this is that the quality is guaranteed to be a high percentage.  

Human beings have been taking drugs for recreation in some form or other for centuries and more likely then not, will continue to do so. Perhaps the solution to the dilemma lies in the reasons why humans choose to use chemical substances to escape from life and reality.