PMID- 20826554
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20120627
LR  - 20220311
IS  - 1461-7285 (Electronic)
IS  - 0269-8811 (Linking)
VI  - 25
IP  - 11
DP  - 2011 Nov
TI  - Instability of the ecstasy market and a new kid on the block: mephedrone.
PG  - 1543-7
LID - 10.1177/0269881110378370 [doi]
AB  - Recently, several reports have indicated instability of the ecstasy market in the 
      Netherlands and other EU countries. In the current study, we demonstrate this 
      instability in the Netherlands, showing a decrease of ecstasy tablets containing 
      3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) by more than 50% in 2009. In addition, we 
      describe a partial replacement of MDMA in tablets sold as ecstasy by a previously 
      unseen substance, mephedrone (or 4-methylmethcathinone). Mephedrone was 
      quantified and ecstasy tablets contained between 96 and 155 mg of this new 
      compound. So far, no studies about mephedrone's effects have been published. For 
      this study, we gathered information on the acute subjective effects of mephedrone 
      from 70 regular ecstasy users. Overall, the majority of users considered the 
      effects enjoyable. Mephedrone seemed to evoke effects similar to other 
      amphetamine type psychostimulants, including MDMA. In contrast to MDMA, however, 
      mephedrone induced strong feelings of craving in most users. If the unstable 
      ecstasy market situation persists, the potential of mephedrone to substitute for 
      MDMA might be substantial. Mephedrone, sold as ecstasy, is therefore likely to be 
      a valid cause for health concern.
FAU - Brunt, Tibor M
AU  - Brunt TM
AD  - Drug Information and Monitoring System, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health 
      and Addiction, Utrecht, the Netherlands. tbrunt@trimbos.nl
FAU - Poortman, Anneke
AU  - Poortman A
FAU - Niesink, Raymond J M
AU  - Niesink RJ
FAU - van den Brink, Wim
AU  - van den Brink W
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20100908
PL  - United States
TA  - J Psychopharmacol
JT  - Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
JID - 8907828
RN  - 0 (Illicit Drugs)
RN  - 0 (Tablets)
RN  - 44RAL3456C (Methamphetamine)
RN  - 8BA8T27317 (mephedrone)
RN  - CK833KGX7E (Amphetamine)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Amphetamine/supply & distribution
MH  - Humans
MH  - Illicit Drugs/*supply & distribution
MH  - Methamphetamine/*analogs & derivatives/supply & distribution
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*supply & distribution
MH  - Netherlands
MH  - Tablets
EDAT- 2010/09/10 06:00
MHDA- 2012/06/28 06:00
CRDT- 2010/09/10 06:00
PHST- 2010/09/10 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2010/09/10 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/06/28 06:00 [medline]
AID - 0269881110378370 [pii]
AID - 10.1177/0269881110378370 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Psychopharmacol. 2011 Nov;25(11):1543-7. doi: 10.1177/0269881110378370. Epub 
      2010 Sep 8.