Mephedrone addiction is a growing problem associated with chronic use of the drug mephedrone. Not to be confused with the heroin substitute, methadone, mephedrone (also known as 4-methylmethcathinone, 4-MMC, “MCAT”, “bubbles”, “meow meow” or “miaow miaow”) is usually sold as a white, off-white or yellow powder or crystals. Users take mephedrone by snorting it, swallowing “bombs” (wraps of paper), or in pill or capsule form. Repeated use can lead to mephedrone addiction which, as with any other drug addiction, may require professional treatment.
This article on mephedrone drug addiction treatment is written by Kathryn Senior, a freelance journalist who writes health, medical, biological, and pharmaceutical articles for national and international journals, newsletters and web sites.
Mephedrone addiction– how does it start?
Until recently, it was legal to buy and sell mephedrone, which was marketed as a plant fertiliser, even though it has no use as such. The only condition was that the mephedrone sold should not be intended for human consumption. Many people have started abusing the substance and four people in Britain recently died as a direct result of mephedrone use, which led to it being made a class B illegal drug in the UK.
As a previously “legal high”, mephedrone has become the fourth most popular street drug in Britain due to the false belief that it is safer and more pure than illegal drugs. However, even legal chemicals that have not been produced for human consumption do not undergo the same kind of medical testing as pharmaceutical grade medical products, and so the side effects and long-term risks associated with substances such as mephedrone, and the consequences of mephedrone addiction, are often unknown. As with all drug addictions, however, the road to mephedrone addiction begins with trying it out...
