Ban fails to curb 'meow' drug use as partgoers keep taking it 'because they like it

The deadly party drug mephedrone has grown to be more popular than ecstasy, despite being banned last year.
The substance, nicknamed Meow Meow, was hurriedly classified as an illegal Class B drug in April 2010 after being linked to a string of deaths.
But there is little evidence the move has affected its popularity, according to research.

No influence: Whatever the legal status of the latest high, party-goers will keep taking it, reasearch suggests
Fiona Measham, a senior lecturer in criminology who surveyed people in nightclubs for the study, said: ‘Legal status wasn’t considered important. People don’t take anything because it’s legal. They do it because they like it.’
The tragic potential of mephedrone use was highlighted in May last year, when 19-year-old Rebecca Cardwell died from liver failure after taking the drug, just one month after its ban.
The study, by a team at Lancaster University, questioned 308 people at two south London nightclubs.
Half of those said they intended to use drugs that night and mephedrone was the most popular, with 27 per cent planning to take it.
The study found that mephedrone had been the second most commonly used drug within the past month, with 41 per cent taking it. And more than half admitted that they had used mephedrone in the past year.
The findings did not suggest that mephedrone users switched to other ‘legal highs’ when the drug was outlawed.
Miss Measham added: ‘Part of the legal highs debate is this idea that if you ban one, people move on to another. But this did not happen.’
The researchers suggest the rise in mephedrone use may be due to a drop in the purity of ecstasy and cocaine.