General Article 'Safe Ketamine': experts warn over trend for 'legal high' drug

Topic Selected: Drugs
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By Kyrsty Hazell

A new ‘legal high’ drug is being mistakenly dubbed as the ‘safe’ version of ketamine and is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, a recent study has revealed.

According to widespread research by DrugScope, dangerous party drug ketamine has a legal doppelganger in the form of methoxetamine (MXE) or ‘Mexxy’, which mimics the effects of ketamine.

The Druglink Street Drug Trends 2011 report, published in November by the drugs charity, discovered a growing trend of ketamine use in the UK, with MXE being marketed as the ‘safer’ version for drug-goers worried about the side-effects of ketamine.

The drug is sold as the ‘bladder-friendly’ substitute (referring to ketamine’s most common side-effect – weakened bladder control) and is what insiders call a ‘legal high’ because the Misuse of Drugs Act doesn’t control it.

The MXE drug manages to escape being classified as a Class A drug due to chemical structure differences but is still considered to be a ‘controlled’ subs...

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