PMID- 20735367
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20110527
LR  - 20161125
IS  - 1360-0443 (Electronic)
IS  - 0965-2140 (Linking)
VI  - 106
IP  - 1
DP  - 2011 Jan
TI  - Mephedrone, new kid for the chop?
PG  - 154-61
LID - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03130.x [doi]
AB  - AIMS: Mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) is a novel synthetic stimulant drug that 
      has recently become popular in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. It has 
      a short history of human consumption and little is known about its prevalence and 
      pattern of use. This study aimed to obtain preliminary data on its use and 
      effects among dance drug users in the United Kingdom. DESIGN:   Cross-sectional 
      anonymous online survey of mephedrone recruited as part of larger study exploring 
      patterns of drug use among those associated with the dance music scene. Setting  
      UK-based dance music and clubbing website. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 947 ever 
      users of mephedrone recruited as part of a wider study on dance drug use 
      patterns. MEASUREMENTS: Assessment of demographics, ever and current drug use and 
      patterns and selected effects following use of mephedrone. FINDINGS: A total of 
      947 (41.3%) of 2295 participants reported ever having used mephedrone. Mephedrone 
      was the sixth most frequently used drug in the last month after tobacco, alcohol, 
      cannabis, cocaine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Users were 
      typically younger (P < 0.001) and male (P < 0.01); 15.1% reported using weekly or 
      more frequently; 49.5% reported using between 0.5 and 1 g during a typical 
      session; 69.5% reported that intranasal use was the most common route of use. 
      Intranasal use was associated with increased abuse liability; 54.6% of those who 
      have also used cocaine reported that the quality of the high obtained with 
      mephedrone was better, with those using intranasally being significantly more 
      likely than those who took the drug orally to report that mephedrone was more 
      addictive (P < 0.02) and more risky (P < 0.02) than cocaine. Route of use was 
      unrelated to any stimulant-related adverse effect apart from palpitations 
      (P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Mephedrone appears to be used primarily intranasally 
      and to have comparable abuse potential to cocaine, with more than half those who 
      use both reporting that mephedrone gives a better quality high.
CI  - (c) 2010 The Authors, Addiction (c) 2010 Society for the Study of Addiction.
FAU - Winstock, Adam R
AU  - Winstock AR
AD  - King's College London, Department of Addictions, Institute of Psychiatry, London, 
      UK. adam.winstock@kcl.ac.uk
FAU - Mitcheson, Luke R
AU  - Mitcheson LR
FAU - Deluca, Paolo
AU  - Deluca P
FAU - Davey, Zoe
AU  - Davey Z
FAU - Corazza, Ornella
AU  - Corazza O
FAU - Schifano, Fabrizio
AU  - Schifano F
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20100823
PL  - England
TA  - Addiction
JT  - Addiction (Abingdon, England)
JID - 9304118
RN  - 0 (Central Nervous System Stimulants)
RN  - 0 (Designer Drugs)
RN  - 44RAL3456C (Methamphetamine)
RN  - 8BA8T27317 (mephedrone)
SB  - IM
MH  - Administration, Intranasal
MH  - Adult
MH  - Central Nervous System Stimulants/*pharmacology
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - *Dancing
MH  - Designer Drugs/*pharmacology
MH  - Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
MH  - Drug and Narcotic Control
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Internet
MH  - Male
MH  - Methamphetamine/*analogs & derivatives/pharmacology
MH  - Prevalence
MH  - Substance-Related Disorders/*epidemiology/psychology
MH  - United Kingdom/epidemiology
MH  - Young Adult
EDAT- 2010/08/26 06:00
MHDA- 2011/05/28 06:00
CRDT- 2010/08/26 06:00
PHST- 2010/08/26 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2010/08/26 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2011/05/28 06:00 [medline]
AID - ADD3130 [pii]
AID - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03130.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Addiction. 2011 Jan;106(1):154-61. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03130.x. Epub 
      2010 Aug 23.