11/12/93

NEWEST "BATHTUB" DESIGNER DRUG MAY REPLACE METH LABS

By Clark Staten, EMT-P

NEW YORK, NY - As one of the primary "ports of entry" into
the United States, New York City is often the first to feel
the effects of current trends...both good and bad.  Such is
the case with the newly discovered, easy-to-synthesize drug,
that has appeared in America.  Sporadic reports have been
recieved in the New York City area, of overdoses of a
"synthetic cocaine".  Hospital analysis of the drug revealed
that it is not cocaine, but a synthesis involving the over-
the-counter drug pseudoephedrine.

Nicknamed "Cat" by it's few users in the United States, the
drug was first reported by law enforcement officials in the
former Soviet Union.It's real chemical name is Methcathinone.
It is thought to be somewhere between cocaine and
methamphetamine in strength, and has many of the same effects
as both drugs. In lower doses, users describe a "feeling of
euphoria" and well being with the world.  It causes overt
alertness and rapid pulse, breathing, and increasing blood
pressure. In higher doses, it can cause sleeplessness,
agitation, paranoid delusions, agressive behavior, seizures,
and even death.

Drug control experts say that "Cat" is of particular
significance because it can be reproduced without the use of
"telltale" precursor chemicals that have been used to produce
methamphetamine.  Police officials have often been able to
located "Meth Labs" due to the use of smelly and volatile
chemicals that are necessary to produce the "speed".
Methcathinone doesn't require the same materials and the
chemical reactions that are used to make it are not as
offensive or dangerous to others.  Reportedly, the necessary
chemicals can be easily obtained through chemical supply
channels and over-the-counter, without the arousing the
suspicion associated with methamphetamine production.