Mephedrone (M-CAT) drug linked to double teens tragedy (From York Press)

Mephedrone (M-CAT) drug linked to double teens tragedy

8:22am Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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TWO teenagers have died after apparently taking the “legal high” drug mephedrone.

Louis Wainwright, 18, and Nicholas Joshua Smith, 19, had been out drinking into the early hours of Monday.

A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: “We believe they have taken a drug known locally as M-CAT, which appears to have contributed to their deaths.”

M-Cat is a colloquial name for mephedrone, an increasingly widespread “legal high” drug, which The Press is campaigning to have banned.

Humberside Police are now urging people to be aware of the dangers of the drug. Both men were from Scunthorpe.

Senior investigation officer Mark Oliver said: “We would encourage anyone who may have taken the drug or knows somebody who has taken the drug to attend a local hospital as a matter of urgency.” Kay Aisthorpe, from Safer Neighbourhoods, said: “This substance is very dangerous and it is important that anyone who has taken it contacts their local GP or hospital immediately.”

Mr Wainwright was pronounced dead at his home in Winteringham, after ambulance crews were called at noon on Monday.

At 4.20pm the same day, emergency services were called to a house in Redbourne Street, Scunthorpe, after Mr Smith died.

Mephedrone can be sold legally if it is marked as not being for human consumption. It is commonly sold as plant food.

The Press launched its Menace Of Mephedrone campaign in January, after a sixth-former at Woldgate College in Pocklington collapsed after taking the drug.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is currently compiling evidence for the Home Office on whether it should be banned.

Police have arrested two men in connection with the deaths. One of those men is also thought to have taken the drug, and has been taken to hospital, where he is undergoing examination. A woman is also in hospital.

The Menace of Mephedrone campaign and further stories>>