Chapter on “legal highs” reaches milestone – with 5,000 downloads

A paper on mephedrone-related fatalities in the UK has achieved impressive readership results.

John Corkery

Published as a chapter of the open access book “Pharmacology” in March 2012, the paper has been accessed over 5,000 times – showing the significant impact of the work by University of Hertfordshire researchers John Corkery and Professor Fabrizio Schifano.

At the point of the paper’s publication, the misuse of mephedrone had been greatly increasing in Western countries, especially in the dance and club scenes, and had been implicated in a rising number of deaths, particularly in the UK.

Professor Fabrizio Schifano

Mephedrone, sometimes called ‘meow meow’, ‘bubbles’ or ‘MMC Hammer’ is a powerful stimulant and is part of a group of drugs that are closely related to the  amphetamines, like speed and ecstasy.  It is readily available over the internet and in head shops – often advertised as a ‘legal high’.  As typical use of this drug is to experience psychoactive effects, many deaths occurred following recreational use of the drug.

The chapter highlighted the dangers associated with mephedrone consumption, especially with regard to recreational use.  The study represented the most detailed analysis at the time (and currently) of the largest number of mephedrone-related fatalities worldwide.

The paper, Mephedrone-Related Fatalities in the United Kingdom: Contextual, Clinical and Practical Issues (DOI: 10.5772/32935), was published in Pharmacology book ISBN 978-953-51-0222-9, Published: March 14, 2012, chapter 17.