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From:
an26424@anon.penet.fi (Badsector)
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1993 15:20:21 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Methcathinone Info
Methcathinone ("Cat") / Ephedrone ("Jeff").
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Initially reported as a street drug in the former USSR as ephedrone
[1]. Reports of the use of "Jeff" leading to "numerous" overdose deaths
were, it seems, covered up by the former Russian authorities. It has been
banned in the USA after several labs were seized in Michigan. It was sold
as "Cat", presumably named after the African shrub Khat (catha
edulis), which contains cathinone [2]. Methcathinone is related to
cathinone as methamphetamine is related to amphetamine, i.e. by
N-methyl substitution.
Reliable reports of effects in humans are not known to me. A recent short
letter [4] in the Journal of the American Medical Association seems to me to
simply to repeat assertions made in the American popular press. In the letter,
it is said that users describe "Cat" as better than cocaine and meth.
"Typical" doses are described as 0.5-1g and the effects described as lasting
six days.
This seems to me to be unlikely. What has been reported may well be
equivalent to high dose, methamphetamine abuse on the "speed freak" pattern
and is probably *not* typical.
Animal studies [2] suggest methcathinone has ED50 of 1.9uM/kg
(0.39mg/kg) , when compared to cocaine's 7.6uM/kg (2.6 mg/kg). This would
make it *more* potent than cocaine by six times in the rat and
suggests the human figure of ten times cocaine potency in the human reported
on USENET as been given on Belgium television is not unrealistic. Indeed, this
would put it in the same range as methamphetamine, which it may well closely
resemble.
Personal communication suggests it may well be simply equivalent to
methamphetamine. The bottom line may well be that most CNS stimulants
are the same, whether they be cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine,
4-methylaminorex or methcathinone. Differing the route of administration is
likely to have more effect. Smoking or injecting such drugs leads to rapid
build-up of the drug in the blood stream and an intense "rush". This route
is more dangerous from a toxicologic point of view and likely to lead to
compulsive use. Occasional oral use in social situations is likely
to be the least harmful. Some people may find CNS stimulants psychologically
addictive.
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