Mephedrone and the problem

The key side-effect of the mephedrone scare has been a spike in sales – and a government policy now close to breaking point

The unintended consequence of this week's media coverage of mephedrone, a legal drug openly sold on the internet which may be implicated in the death of Gabrielle Price, a 14-year-old girl who collapsed at a party in Brighton last month, is that lots of suppliers have sold out. Several I call don't have any in stock. "We've had loads of free publicity," says one. You must be pleased, I say. "You think I'm pleased that kids are buying a potentially dangerous drug?" he says angrily, then puts the phone down. Which is a curious response when he is the one supplying them, but then he, like many other mephedrone sellers, seem to exist in a strange world of non-truths. You can buy mephedrone over the internet with a credit card and have your little bag of white powder delivered the next day (or on the same day in some areas), although when you buy it, you do so on the understanding that it is "not for human consumption" – which every website selling it will tell you – and is instead a plant fertiliser. "I sell strictly for horticultural use," says one supplier. "A lot of orders are for just a few grams, so this is obviously intended for the customer's own garden." Right.

Even though what they are doing is not strictly against the law – under medicines legislation, it is illegal to sell mephedrone for human consumption, but not for customers' gardens – they really are a wary lot. One only agrees to speak by email and under condition of anonymity after deciding not to meet me at a service station just north of London after all. Michael is 39, runs three small "regular" businesses and used to be an IT director for a retail chain. He set up a website selling mephedrone, imported from China, three months ago.

"Someone mentioned it in passing and I was intrigued," he says. "I knew it was an opportunity and I realised on the first day it was going to be a success. Now, I'm seeing silly growth, 10 to 20% every week."

This week he put his prices up, mainly to try to stem the interest because he was receiving more orders than he could handle. He makes all his sales through his website – "I've heard of a few cases recently of robberies taking place at sales meet-ups" – so he says it is hard to know who is buying mephedrone, but he does supply bulk orders to people who clearly plan to sell it on. He says he can almost see it spreading throughout the country. "A month ago it reached London," he says. "I went from rare orders there to a lot. A week ago it reached Manchester and Birmingham. I was wondering why I never got orders from there, but now there are suddenly lots." Does he take it? "No, never have and never will."


The Full Story in the guardian

Trance plant food (still not scared? Get some grams in lol)