Mephedrone, also referred to as “meow meow” (喵喵), has been turning up more frequently in test results of young drug users since 2019 and is now the leading cause of deaths from overdose involving synthetic or recreational drugs in Taiwan, a report by the High Prosecutors’ Office and narcotics experts showed.
The drug caused 205 deaths from 2021 to June last year, the report said, adding that the deceased were on average aged 30.
Prosecutors and experts said that meow meow has since 2019 been the most commonly found narcotic in people tested for illegal drugs, adding that it was responsible for about 60 deaths annually over the past decade.
Photo copied by Liu Ching-ho, Taipei Times
It has a strong psychoactive and stimulating effect, and induces hallucinations and amplified sensations, but it could also lead to sudden cardiac arrest and death, the report said.
There is a worrying trend in its use by young people, the report quoted prosecutors as saying.
Its cute name and fancy, colorful packaging, such as “rainbow cigarettes” or narcotic coffee powders, has lured more people into trying it and made it the “getting high” drug of choice among young people, they said.
Meow meow is a psychoactive stimulant of the central nervous system. It is chemically similar to cathinone, which comes from khat leaves, which are traditionally sold as a chewable recreational stimulant in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
It causes mild loss of appetite and euphoria, and could be used to reduce fatigue and hunger.
Meow meow’s powder form could be taken orally or dissolved into a beverage, and is sometimes consumed with ketamine, experts said, adding that it is highly addictive.
Mephedrone was prohibited and controlled in 2010, after European countries and US authorities recognized its dangerous and addictive nature, the report said.
Taiwanese authorities banned and listed mephedrone as a Category 3 narcotic after a 17-year-old Taiwanese girl died after consuming it, the report said.
Test results show that cathinone and its related compounds are the main forms of new synthetic and psychoactive drugs in Taiwan, the report said, adding that use of the drugs grew significantly from 3,129 cases in 2013 to about 30,500 in 2020, with meow meow taking the No. 1 spot.
During a crackdown on illegal drugs in Taiwan in 2020, meow meow’s precursor, 2-bromo-4’-methylpropiophenone, which is also a derivative of cathinone, was the most-seized drug, the report said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS