Mephedrone to be banned within weeks

DANCE drug mephedrone will be banned within weeks, British home secretary Alan Johnson announced yesterday.

The legal high, which has been linked to up to 25 deaths in England and Scotland, will be banned and made a Class B drug, he said. A ban on importing the drug came into immediate force.

The announcement came after Johnson was given a report backing a ban on mephedrone – also known as M-Cat, “Miaow Miaow”, or Plant Food – from Professor Les Iversen, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.