When mephedrone went public

Two young men have tragically died. Police reports have stated that they were imbibed with a cocktail of alcohol, mephedrone and the synthetic opiod methadone. Yet the toxicology reports have yet to be returned and no causal link has yet been substantiated. These substances were found in possession only.

The media, and consequentially sound-byte politics, have been quick to pick up on this new health scare. The antagonist of the piece? Specifically mephedrone. On a day when it was revealed that the PM has been telling porky pies on defence funding; we have mephedrone -- a new national health crisis -- to push it down the news ladder.

The drug, 4-methylmethcathinone, is also known by the 'street' names MCAT, MEOW and 4MMC. It is sold legally as 'plant food' and 'not for human consumption' -- rather ironically it has to be said -- and in the great tradition of legal highs has been slowly edging its way toward illegality for some time. Now it is being thrust into social segregation.