They found the drug caused a fast and vigorous release of neurotransmitters into parts of the brain strongly involved in craving and addiction. Another team took brains from rats and mixed it with special radioactive stuff designed to latch on to the same bits they guessed might be affected by mephedrone. As they thought, less of the radioactive stuff stuck onto the mephedrone-treated tissue, showing that the drug had attached itself in those places. Clogging up these transporters can make neurotransmitters hang around for longer than they should, which increases the effect they have on the brain.
We do this to trick the immune response into changing the colour of neurons that have been working hard in the recent past, so we can later look and see which ones were marked. This matches up with what people had been telling us about the experience of taking the drug, and it suggests there should be some common features between how these three drugs mephedrone, ecstasy and methamphetamine go about their business.
Well, yes. Although a lot of the initial media reports of mephedrone-related tragedies were exaggerated or just plain nonsense, there have been a relatively small number of unambiguously mephedrone-caused deaths. If you are sufficiently foolish or unlucky, this stuff can kill you. Lots of folks are taking mephedrone, and only a relatively small number have come to grief.
Even among those who do crash and burn, most of them get out of it with nothing worse than a very unpleasant night in a hospital emergency room. A team from University College in London invited local users to pop by the lab on consecutive weekends once with their drug and once without so they could get some more objective information about what mephedrone actually does to people.
Reportedly, because of its strength, only small pinches or bumps of methoxetamine are snorted — and not full lines. Injecting is a particularly risky route for overdose. And by injecting and sharing injecting equipment, including needles and syringes, users run the risk of catching or spreading a virus, such as HIV or hepatitis C.
There is also the risk that veins may be damaged and that something nasty will develop, such as an abscess or a clot. However, there is no evidence to support this and it is possible that MXE will turn out to be as toxic as ketamine in this regard. Although there is little known about MXE we do know that it is chemically related to dissociative anaesthetics like ketamine and PCP. The effects of MXE tend to be similar to ketamine effects, but are more intense and longer lasting and include:.
MXE can make people feel very chilled out, relaxed and euphoric. Others have reported being agitated. You could feel completely detached from your body and surroundings, putting yourself in danger of accidentally being hurt or being hurt by others.
MXE can also cause involuntary eye movement, loss of balance and poor coordination, unsteadiness on your feet and slurred speech. These effects are not seen when people use ketamine. It normally takes 10 to 15 minutes for the effects of methoxetamine MXE to be felt, but sometimes it can take 60 to 90 minutes. There have been no confirmed deaths from methoxetamine MXE and nobody knows the long-term risks of using MXE, and how similar the risks are to ketamine. But we do have a better idea of some of the short term risks:.
So you could end up hurting yourself or being hurt by others. Compared to many other powder drugs, you only need to take a small amount of MXE to have a substantial effect.
MXE is marketed as a replacement for ketamine , but without ketamine's harmful effect on the bladder. Capsules or tablets are usually swallowed. Users say an effective oral dose is around mg, it comes on within about half an hour and lasts for hours.
Swallowing is possibly the least harmful way to take it, but if you take lots of it you risk damaging your stomach. The powder can be snorted but it is reported to be very unpleasant, causing a burning sensation and nosebleeds.
Users say an effective snorting dose is around 50mgs, it comes on within a few minutes and lasts about an hour. Mephedrone can damage the skin in the nose and nasal passages, causing inflammation, pain and nosebleeds. Washing your nose out with warm water between lines, or at least at the end of a session, will help reduce the damage. Mephedrone melts at around c which is much lower than the direct heat generated by a match, lighter or joint.
To release the vapour without burning the drug, indirect heat needs to be applied, usually on tinfoil or in a glass pipe.
Users say an effective dose is around 50mgs, it comes on within seconds but only lasts about half an hour. The more you smoke the faster it comes on and wears off and you will want to take more to keep the buzz going. As it is such a recent addition to the drug scene no long-term studies have been conducted. Many users report a strong desire to continue taking it craving so it is possible that mephedrone could be psychologically addictive, on a par with cocaine and crack.
The only way to avoid the potential risks is not to use mephedrone. Release is the national centre of expertise on drugs and drugs law — providing free and confidential specialist advice to the public and professionals. Erowid is a member-supported organization providing access to reliable, non-judgmental information about psychoactive plants, chemicals, and related issues.
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Link to, or credit the Substance website. The more you take the more likely you are to have problems. Yes, it could be some blag white powder, or even a completely different substance, but how do you know? Give it time to start. Taking too much too soon could put you on a bad one.
Common unpleasant side-effects Unwanted effects include dry mouth, teeth grinding, reduced appetite, poor concentration and short-term memory, increased heart rate, increased body temperature, palpitations of the heart, anxiety, depression, sweating, and pupil dilation. The Law!
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