What is mephedrone and what does it do?

Mephedrone is a psychoactive drug that temporarily enhances mental function, physical function, or both. It is a synthetic stimulant.

It is also called 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC), or 4-methylephedrone, and should not be confused with methadone, which is a totally different substance.

Street names for mephedrone include meph, MCAT, bubbles, drone, miaow, white magic, and M-smack.

Mephedrone is considered a recreational drug. This means that people use it occasionally for enjoyment, and there is no medical justification for its psychoactive effects.

What is mephedrone?

Mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) is a stimulant drug, which means it speeds up the messages traveling between the brain and body.1 Mephedrone is classed among New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), a range of drugs that have been designed to produce effects similar to those of established illicit drugs.

It was originally marketed online as a plant fertiliser or ‘research chemical’.1

Mephedrone comes in different forms, including:

Other names

Meph, meow, meow-meow, m-cat, plant food, drone, bubbles, kitty cat.1

• Ethylone,,,
• MDMA,,,
• PMA and PMMA,,,,,

How is mephedrone used?

Mephedrone powder is usually sniffed/snorted or swallowed.2 Swallowing is the most common way of taking the drug. It is usually mixed with liquid to drink or wrapped in a cigarette paper (known as ‘bombing’).2 There are also reports of people injecting the drug.2