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The Menace of Mephedrone campaign logo

This campaign by The Press intends to make the drug mephedrone illegal.

The drug, commonly known as bubbles, meow, meow or M-CAT, which can cost as little as £3 a dose, is becoming increasingly popular among young people in North and East Yorkshire, but its effects can be devastating.

Phone Jennifer Bell at The Press on 01904 653051 ext 315 or email jennifer.bell@thepress.co.uk for further details.

Drug curse campaign gathers pace

11:06am Saturday 23rd January 2010 in


THE Press’s campaign to outlaw the curse of mephedrone is gathering pace – as more York parents reveal their harrowing experiences of the legal but potentially lethal drug’s effects.

One, who did not want to be named, said: “My son, who is 15, has been lying, stealing and is a completely different person to the one I used to know, since he started taking this drug.

“My guess is that he began using mephedrone since August last year, but he is now taking it more than ever. He is sullen and rude and not the sweet, loving son I used to have.

“I cannot believe I am talking about my own son this way – I never thought I would say this – but he is now unrecognisable. This drug is terrible. Yes, it may be legal, but it has led him into a life of crime.”

She added: “This drug is awful and something desperately needs to be done.”

As more stories continue to pour in, The Press's campaign has gained momentum with nearly 100 petition signatures in three days. The drug, which can be bought for as little as £3 a gram and comes in powder, tablet, crystal or liquid form, has nicknames including “meow meow”, “drone” and “bubble”.

Meanwhile, police in Hertfordshire said six people had been arrested after a party earlier this week in which an 18-year-old died.

It was reported nationally that Ben Walters had died after taking mephedrone but Hertfordshire Police have not confirmed this.

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Comments(15)

consumer says...
11:23am Sat 23 Jan 10

Nearly 100 petition signatures in three days. If I were the Press I think I'd keep quiet about that fact. Are they not embarrassed? Populism ain't what it used to be.

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redr says...
11:31am Sat 23 Jan 10

A fifteen year old boy becoming moody! Whatever next? Anyway now I’ve finished my coffee and fag I’m off to watch the football and have a beer. Thank goodness I’m not tempted to these legal highs.

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Garrowby Turnoff says...
12:54pm Sat 23 Jan 10

Whatever point of view we may have on de-legalising mephedrone, at the heart of the story is that these York mum's and dad's are battling for their kid's lives. We must help in stopping the 'fashion' of taking this stuff, and accepting and condoning the use of cigarettes and alcohol does not help. This publicity IS helping I'm certain, but let's not screw it up with trite remarks. It's serious stuff this! The fight against the hard Drug taking culture and its black markets are on a par with Al Qaeda terrorist attacks.

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consumer says...
1:12pm Sat 23 Jan 10

Drug taking isn't a 'fashion', as you call it. It is part of the human condition. The drugs of choice in our society is tobacco and alcohol; others have drifted in and out of popularity, often as a result of media publicity.
You're right about black markets, and all the associated violence and adulterated drugs that they entail, being a serious probelm. That's exactly what prohibition will create in regard to this drug, just like it has with all the others that the law has unsuccessfully tried to stop. Prohibition doesn't work.

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Garrowby Turnoff says...
1:26pm Sat 23 Jan 10

Drug taking isn't a 'fashion', as you call it. It is part of the human condition. The drugs of choice in our society is tobacco and alcohol; others have drifted in and out of popularity, often as a result of media publicity.

But you've just agreed with me about drugs drifting in and out of popularity ie Fashion. Just for the record I want all drugs legalised and have said so here many times. I agree with you here. Let's wreck the black market of drug dealers.

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paama says...
1:27pm Sat 23 Jan 10

My child came home from Easingwold school a couple of months back saying that there had been pupils caught taking something called "bubble" at the time i had no idea what it was!! Since reading the stories in the press i now realise and apparently the drug is been sold quite openly in school. I think the school don't want to admit they have a problem as it all comes down to bad press. Maybe they should start thinking about the welfare of their pupils!!!

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consumer says...
1:41pm Sat 23 Jan 10

Garrowby Turnoff wrote:
Drug taking isn't a 'fashion', as you call it. It is part of the human condition. The drugs of choice in our society is tobacco and alcohol; others have drifted in and out of popularity, often as a result of media publicity.

But you've just agreed with me about drugs drifting in and out of popularity ie Fashion. Just for the record I want all drugs legalised and have said so here many times. I agree with you here. Let's wreck the black market of drug dealers.
Drug taking isn't a fashion, but certain drugs drift in and out of fashion.

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TooRad says...
1:58pm Sat 23 Jan 10

See, people tend to see it the wrong way round, like many of the parents featured in articles and campaigns like this. They see the troubled behaviours as symptoms of the drug-taking, when often the drug-taking is a symptom of the troubled behaviour. The problems come first and using whatever substance is trendy at the time is just another coping mechanism. I don't wish to offend any parent going through a tough time with their adolescents, but sometimes it would be better to look inward to find a root cause rather than get hysterical about that pantomime villain - drugs.

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TooRad says...
2:03pm Sat 23 Jan 10

On a more general note, as far as this campaign and the daily articles go, we are seeing almost verbatim, the same cliches rolled out for every new drug scare.
"Turned from gentle and loving to aggressive and lying"
"I don't recognise my own son"
"Potentially lethal"
"Stays out all night, sleeps all day"
"signs to be aware of such as paranoia, aggressive behaviour, depression; either suddenly flush with cash or broke."
All of these and more have been used over and again in articles decrying heroin, ecstacy, cocaine, cannabis and now mephedrone. How is it that all these very different drugs with very different psychopharmacologies can have the exact same side effects? Could it be that we are being misinformed? Deliberately kept ignorant in order to promote a fearful society? Surely not.
.
I vividly remember the furore around ecstasy when all these cliches were being thrown around daily by the media until it was made illegal. At the time you could buy a pill for £15 or £20 and millions of people did it every weekend. Now it's illegal and twenty years later, quality has gone downhill, you can get pills for a couple of quid each and millions of people still do it every weekend. Oh yeah, and all the silly lies about spinal fluid and Parkinsons Disease were proven to be just that - lies.
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There's a lesson in that.
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I'm all for drugs education, I don't want to see people making stupid choices, but they will continue to harm themselves as long as drug policy continues to be more about DISinformation than information. The policy is far more dangerous than the drugs.
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Just say know.

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consumer says...
2:55pm Sat 23 Jan 10

Well said.
The irony of all this is that, while the newspaper has trotted out the usual idiotic cliches, the threads on here in response have been the first time that the comment facility has been used in an intelligent fashion.

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AdmiralNN says...
5:08pm Sat 23 Jan 10

Until now consumer lol.
'
Im waiting for Gavin to start a regular column 'Good Lines' where he trots about trying different legal highs from different local suppliers and can offer his opinion on purity, quality and the best places to buy from to enhance our overall experience. As with 'pints of view' i would imagine that there are numerous places within a stones throw of the press office where he can start his campaign.

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rentonsewell says...
5:36pm Sat 23 Jan 10

there needs to be more confidentiality and even anonymity when a youngster wants help and advice and maybe more kids would come forward for help,, its no joke when an individual who has hep c at the college has to endure the gossip that has somehow started to circulate,, this is the very unprofessional attitude that drives kids to continue using in private, to feel alienated and not trust these so called drug workers and advisors,,

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GoodDoc says...
6:43pm Sat 23 Jan 10

This is more populist guff, drummed up by The Press to outrage and rattle up naive readers looking for something to be scared of. Banning things has rarely helped and if these kids want to get their fix, they'll get it one way or another. Anyone that can't see through this kind of obvious media ploy shouldn't really be reading newspapers!

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consumer says...
11:16am Sun 24 Jan 10

GoodDoc wrote:
This is more populist guff, drummed up by The Press to outrage and rattle up naive readers looking for something to be scared of. Banning things has rarely helped and if these kids want to get their fix, they'll get it one way or another. Anyone that can't see through this kind of obvious media ploy shouldn't really be reading newspapers!
Given its recent journalistic standards I'm not sure the Press falls under that category.

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champagnegal says...
2:50pm Sun 24 Jan 10

consumer wrote:
GoodDoc wrote:
This is more populist guff, drummed up by The Press to outrage and rattle up naive readers looking for something to be scared of. Banning things has rarely helped and if these kids want to get their fix, they'll get it one way or another. Anyone that can't see through this kind of obvious media ploy shouldn't really be reading newspapers!
Given its recent journalistic standards I'm not sure the Press falls under that category.
Quite true about that one - According to one of their headlines last week, Melrosegate is in the centre of town !!

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