Police promise zero tolerance as Meow Meow is made illegal

Published on Friday 16 April 2010 00:17

POLICE have warned retailers they will not hesitate to clamp down on anyone caught selling mephedrone as the drug becomes illegal today.

The substance, which has been widely sold on the internet as plant food, will be classified as a Class B drug, and anyone caught with it could face a five-year prison sentence. Dealing the drug will carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

The drug has been linked with several deaths in Britain, including that of Jordan Kiltie, 19, from Ayr.

While sex shops and healthfood stores across Scotland yesterday said they were not selling mephedrone, also known as M-Cat or Meow Meow, it remained available to buy from some online outlets last night.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police urged retailers to take note of the change in legislation, and said the force would crack down on anyone found breaking the new law. Grampian Police also said it was determined to ensure the message got across that mephedrone was now illegal.

Detective Chief Superintendent Billy Gordon, the force's head of crime management, said: "Our priority is to disrupt and prevent the distribution of this drug. With greater enforcement powers, we will be firm and tackle those individuals who continue to sell or traffic this harmful drug, in order to protect the health of those who may be under the illusion it is safe."

Welcoming the change in the law, Dr Ronald Ames, an A&E consultant with NHS Grampian, said: "Over the last few months, staff at the emergency department at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary have treated on average one patient a day who claimed to have used the drug. Half of these patients have required admission to hospital overnight."

Counsellors in the north-east area have reported children as young as 13 using the drug, thanks to its availability over the internet. An aspiring Scottish MP, however, criticised the ban. James Nesbitt, the Scottish Socialist Party candidate for Glasgow Central, said UK government policy was being dictated by "hysterical tabloid campaigns".

In England, trading standards officers have been contacting retailers and offering them the chance to voluntarily hand over stocks of mephedrone before its sale becomes an offence. It is understood their counterparts in Scotland have not followed suit.

Yesterday, staff at several sex shops in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen stressed mephedrone was not for sale, but one retailer in Scotland's biggest city said he would be unsurprised to find it available at Glasgow's Barras Market at the weekend.

Several websites that sold the drug – such as God's Garden, Plant Food, Disco Food and Party Garden – have already ceased operating. It was, however, still available yesterday on other websites. One, MrMeph, was selling one gram of the substance for 13.99.

The move to ban the drug comes despite the resignation of two of the government's drugs advisers over the issue. Earlier this month, Eric Carlin followed Dr Polly Taylor by stepping down from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

Mr Carlin said the decision to ban the drug was "unduly based on media and political pressure".