ONLINE SALES OF LEGAL ALTERNATIVES TO CLASS A DRUGS RAISE SAFETY FEARS

. Boom In Stimulants Sold On Websites As Plant Food

. Dangers Unknown Due To Lack Of Trials, Say Experts

Legal alternatives to cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines that are sold
online are the latest in a new wave of stimulants that could change
the way drugs are bought and sold. The drugs are available to anyone
with an email address and a PayPal account.

The fact that they are legal and that other stimulants are being
developed could alter the whole drugs scene, according to research
carried out by DrugScope, the independent information centre on
drugs. People who have tested one of the drugs describe sensations
similar to those of illegal class A drugs.

There has been much internet discourse about the new stimulants and
two in particular: mephedrone - nicknamed "meph" - and methylone. The
former sells for about UKP 14 a gram, which is enough for five oral
doses. It has many of the effects of MDMA, amphetamines and cocaine
and users report intense euphoria, talkativeness and increased
tactile sensitivity. It is described as being "two molecular tweaks
away" from MDMA and crystal meth, and more closely related to
cathinonem, the active ingredient in qat.

The drug, which is made in Chinese laboratories, is imported legally
to the UK and sold online from British and Austrian websites or in
shops that sell drug paraphernalia. It is often sold on websites as
"plant food". One site in the UK reports that it has just imported
2kg of mephedrone, according to tomorrow's edition of Druglink, the
DrugScope journal.

Concerns have been raised about the potential harm to unwary users.
Dr John Ramsey, a toxicologist at St George's University of London,
is also director of Tic Tac Communications, a drug analysis body that
studies recreational drugs. Ramsey says the use of the new drugs is a
public health concern.

He told Druglink: "They cause effects pretty much like the drugs they
are derived from. People end up in A&E because they take stimulants,
and they end up in A&E because they take these chemicals.

"Their acute effects are pretty much indistinguishable from MDMA and
amphetamines.

"But we have no information on their toxicity because they have never
been used as drugs until recently, so there have not been any formal
studies. The only real reports we get are from people who either
write them up in chatrooms or discussion groups, or end up in A&E."

A Danish teenager died in last May and was in possession of
mephedrone but toxicology reports were inconclusive.

One effect of mephedrone can be that it causes compulsive redosing,
known as "fiending", where users intend to take only a small amount,
but end up consuming their entire supply. "I did eight grams of meph
over the weekend," reported one user. "My heart is still beating
strangely and my mouth has all the skin peeled off on the inside."
Ramsey believes the drugs have become popularised as a consequence of
the government's moves to make the benzylpiperazine (BZP) class of
chemicals illegal.

"There will always be something on the horizon that is falling
outside the legislation," said Ramsey. "The law cannot keep up with
what is happening on the street. What we need to do is to explain to
users the potential risks they are running."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "If a compelling case is made for
any 'legal high' to be added to the list of controlled drugs under
the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 because they pose a significant health
and social problem, we will not hesitate to seek parliament's
agreement to do so following reference to, and advice from, the
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs."