M CAT/ MEOW MEOW/ Mephedrone (used in plant fertilizers)/4-Methylmethcathinone/Drone/Bath salts

Chemical meaning- is a synthetic stimulant drug of the amphetamine and cathinone classes (C11H15N O ). Cathinones are a group of drugs related to amphetamine compounds like speed and ecstasy.

Layman meaning- Meow Meow is a nick name for Mephedrone which is actually plant food, but commonly bought online and used as a substitute for ecstasy. Stores like www.plant-food.net sell this as plant food.

FACTS-

Originally sold over the internet as a ‘legal’ alternative to drugs, Meow Meow is available online

It looks like cocaine, is 20 times cheaper, more dangerous, and not illegal. Average age is between 17 to 24 The Centre is moving fast to ban this drug under the Narcotics Act Comes in capsules and powders and are sometimes mixed with other

cathinones and caffeine  Doctors say is "the most terrible drug" Can be found as a fine white, off-white or a yellowish powder The effects of mephedrone last for about an hour, but this can vary

EFFECTS-

It can make you feel alert, confident, talkative and euphoric and some people will temporarily feel strong affection for those around them

It can reduce your appetite, so you don’t feel hungry. Loss of weight by 10-15 kgs.

It can also cause anxiety and paranoid states in some Nosebleeds, Blue or cold fingers and lips, damaging your heart,

Vomiting, headaches, feeling sick, paranoid and anxious, Overstimulating nervous system, hallucinations, agitation and even fits

Also known as Zombie drug it often times makes a person violent. A person tends to forget everything and may also cut open his body parts when high on this drugs.

AREAS AFFECTED

People Mumbai, Punjab (near Chandigarh and around), Karnataka, etc. This drug is also manufactured in Pharma factories in Himachal hence Punjab is a prone area.

SOME OF THE ACTS COMMITTED BY PEOPLE DUE TO THIS DRUG

A 19-year-old stabbed his mother and cut off his penis while high on the substance. When the police arrived they found him hanging from a window and then discovered he had cut off his penis.

Teenagers are resorting to stealing from their parents, their relatives, their neighbours, to fund their addiction- as per news report

 28-year-old boy dealing with robberies, assaults and murders A boy switched to Meow Meow, and he says ‘’my life went into self-destruct

mode." Dubey eventually dropped out of school. He would steal from his parents, and once he even sold his mother's jewellery to buy contraband. "Before I knew it, I needed about R6,000 - R8,000 a day to sustain my habit," he says.

A boy says- ”I often lied to my mother saying I wanted to go shopping for imported branded clothes. She would give me Rs. 15,000 at a time. With that money, I would buy cheaper local brands, or from Fashion Street, and spend the rest on Meow Meow."

In the last year alone, an estimated 30,000 people in Mumbai have become addicted to the drug, and sales are in the range of 600 kg a day.