Two teenagers whose deaths were linked to the “legal high” mephedrone, prompting politicians to rush out a contoversial ban, had not taken the drug, reports suggest.
Leading scientists last night criticised the outlawing of the drug — before a single autopsy had been conducted — as an embarassing fiasco borne of political opportunism and tabloid frenzy.
The deaths of Louis Wainwright, 18, and Nicholas Smith, 19, in March 2010 triggered widespread concern about the chemical. At the time Humberside Police, which carried out an initial investigation into the deaths, said there was information to suggest it was linked to mephedrone.
Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, announced a ban a few weeks later, followin a row between politicians and scientists. The synthetic stimulant, also known as Meow, bubbles and M-CAT, was made a Class B drug alongside amphetamines and cannabis.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended a ban saying it was “likely to be harmful”, but many questioned the political pressure put on the body, which had acted despite incomplete research. Two members of the committee quit in protest, while The Lancet medical journal warned that politics had been allowed to “contaminate” a proper appraisal of the evidence.
However the BBC reported last night that toxicology tests had revealed there were no traces of mephedrone in teenagers’ blood. It is thought that the pair, from Scunthorpe, had been drinking and had taken methadone, a synthetic heroin substitute.
Source: Timesonline, 28/05/2010
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