Britain 'floundering' in mephedrone crackdown

The government's chief drugs adviser says the UK is "floundering" in its attempts to control the online mephedrone market.

A BBC investigation has found that the illegal drug is still widely sold through websites despite the ban.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs also said many new legal highs had flooded the market since mephedrone and naphyrone were banned this year.

Chairman Professor Les Iverson said it was difficult for these to be policed.

Naphyrone, which is sold as NRG1, was legal until being reclassified as a Class B drug after research from the ACMD showed it could be 10 times more potent than cocaine.

Responding to the BBC investigation into the online mephedrone trade, Professor Iverson said: "At the moment we're floundering. We haven't got adequate mechanisms to combat the internet crime. And it is internet crime if you're selling a banned substance."

[Thanks James!]