School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
Int J Drug Policy. 2011 Mar;22(2):120-7. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2010.11.001. Epub 2011 Jan 15.
Drug scenes within several countries have changed in recent years to incorporate a range of licit psychoactive products, collectively known as "legal highs." Hundreds of different legal high products have been described in the literature. Many of these products contain synthetic stimulants that allegedly "mirror" the effects of some illicit drugs. In 2009-2010, growing concern by the UK and Irish governments focused on mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant that had become embedded within several drug scenes in Britain and Ireland. In April 2010, mephedrone and related cathinone derivatives were banned under the UK's Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Setting aside "worse case scenarios" that have been portrayed by UK and Irish media, little is known about mephedrone use from the consumer's perspective. The purpose of this paper was to (1) explore respondents' experiences with mephedrone, (2) examine users' perceptions about the safety of mephedrone, and primarily to (3) examine sources of mephedrone supply during the pre- and post-ban periods.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 adults who had used mephedrone during 2009-2010. Data collection occurred in May and June 2010, following the ban on mephedrone. A total of 20/23 respondents had used mephedrone during the post-ban period, and the vast majority had prior experience with ecstasy or cocaine. Respondents' ages ranged from 19 to 51, approximately half of the sample were female and the majority (19 of 23) were employed in full- or part-time work.
Most respondents reported positive experiences with mephedrone, and for some, the substance emerged as a drug of choice. None of the respondents reported that the once-legal status of mephedrone implied that it was safe to use. Very few respondents reported purchasing mephedrone from street-based or on-line headshops during the pre-ban period, and these decisions were guided in part by respondents' attempts to avoid "drug user" identities. Most respondents purchased or obtained mephedrone from friends or dealers, and mephedrone was widely available during the 10-week period following the ban. Respondents reported a greater reliance on dealers and a change in mephedrone packaging following the criminalisation of mephedrone.
The findings are discussed in the context of what appears to be a rapidly changing mephedrone market. We discuss the possible implications of criminalising mephedrone, including the potential displacement effects and the development of an illicit market.
近年来，一些国家的毒品场所发生了变化，出现了一系列合法的精神活性物质，统称为“合法兴奋剂”。文献中已经描述了数百种不同的合法兴奋剂产品。其中许多产品含有合成兴奋剂，据称这些兴奋剂“模仿”了一些非法药物的效果。2009-2010 年，英国和爱尔兰政府越来越关注 3,4-亚甲基二氧甲基苯丙胺（Mephedrone），这是一种已在英国和爱尔兰的几个毒品场所使用的合成兴奋剂。2010 年 4 月，根据英国 1971 年《滥用毒品法》，Mephedrone 及其相关卡西酮衍生物被禁止使用。除了英国和爱尔兰媒体所描绘的“最坏情况”之外，从消费者的角度来看，对 Mephedrone 的使用知之甚少。本文的目的是：（1）探讨受访者使用 Mephedrone 的经历，（2）检验使用者对 Mephedrone 安全性的看法，主要是（3）审查在禁令颁布前后 Mephedrone 供应的来源。
对 2009-2010 年间使用过 Mephedrone 的 23 名成年人进行了半结构化访谈。数据收集于 2010 年 5 月至 6 月，即在 Mephedrone 禁令颁布之后进行。23 名受访者中共有 20 人在禁令颁布后使用过 Mephedrone，其中绝大多数人之前曾使用过摇头丸或可卡因。受访者年龄在 19 至 51 岁之间，大约一半为女性，大多数（23 人中的 19 人）从事全职或兼职工作。
大多数受访者报告称 Mephedrone 的使用体验良好，对一些人来说，Mephedrone 已成为他们的首选药物。没有受访者报告说 Mephedrone 曾经是合法的，这意味着它是安全的。在禁令颁布之前，很少有受访者从街头或在线毒品商店购买 Mephedrone，这些决定部分是基于受访者试图避免“吸毒者”的身份。大多数受访者从朋友或毒贩那里购买或获得 Mephedrone，并且在禁令颁布后的 10 周内，Mephedrone 广泛供应。受访者报告说，在 Mephedrone 被定罪后，他们更加依赖毒贩，并且 Mephedrone 的包装也发生了变化。
在似乎正在迅速变化的 Mephedrone 市场背景下，对调查结果进行了讨论。我们讨论了将 Mephedrone 定罪的可能影响，包括潜在的替代效应和非法市场的发展。
