Addiction to New Psychotropic Drugs on the Rise

Mephedrone, commonly called 'Meow-Meow' has intruded in the life of many teens and the addiction has affected them severely.

Mephedrone, a chemical drug, it is the latest fashion among city’s young drug addicts and is also commonly known as 'meow meow'. It is the new fad to have hit the cities.

Mephedrone looks similar to cocaine and is usually snorted or taken orally.

Drug Abuse | Drug Addiction | Substance Abuse - Overview
The use of Drugs for reasons other than its prescribed recommendation, is known as Drug abuse or substance abuse. Drug abuse or substance abuse is initiated by various biological and social factors.

Of late, newer versions of drugs are the replacement for the age-old drugs like heroin. The drug dealers mix new components, which are not banned to save themselves from law.

The new psychotropic drugs are the worst things to have hit the youngsters. These are drugs, which are not in the banned list of Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substance (NCB) Act, 1958.

"The last drug which was listed under NDPS Act was Ketamine, and that was around three years back," said Mukesh Khatri, superintendent, Central Bureau of Narcotics, Indore.

Impact of Drug Abuse on Health and Society
Drug abuse is a negative social trend that pushes youth to drug addiction in the pretext of getting psychological effects like excitation.

Officials feel that steps are needed to check the menace owing to the growing number of experiments taking place among drug suppliers and abusers. Chemical drugs are a mix of compounds and one compound is replaced with another.

According to Narcotics Control Bureau, internet pharmacy is an extension of e-commerce in the pharmacy industry, where pharmaceutical products i.e. medicines, are sold online instead of conventional pharmacies.

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Drug Detox – Alcohol, Opioid, Nicotine Detoxification
Drug detoxification (or drug detox) is a process that helps drug addicts to give up drugs with less or no withdrawal symptoms.

Experts say that the adverse effects of mephedrone include sweating, headache, palpitations, nausea, chest pain, bruxism (teeth grinding), agitation / aggression and paranoia. Additionally, nasal insufflation of Mephedrone is reportedly to be associated with significant nasal irritation and pain.

On December 23, a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Bombay High Court by Dr. Merchant, it said that ‘Mephadrone, a precursor to methamphetamine, should be listed under the NDPS Act.’ The respondents in the PIL are the Union of India, the director of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the state of Maharashtra.