Attention Parents and Educators: Health Concern Over New Synthetic Drugs

There’s a drug dealer in town. It’s not a person, it’s the internet.

Public health officials are concerned about the internet sale of two synthetic drugs 2C-E, and bromo-dragonfly, nicknamed Dragonfly and Mephedrone, nicknamed Meow Meow. Both are cheap, toxic, rising drug trends that have been the cause of deaths across the country. Many young people that are buying and using the drugs, often marketed as herbal plant food, are unaware of what they are actually ingesting, leading to rising injury and death.

Parents, the following hazardous drugs are out in the market:

• The synthetic drug Dragonfly, named because of its chemical compounds superficial structural resemblance to a dragonfly, is a long lasting psychedelic hallucinogen. The drug causes spasms, seizures, disturbing experiences, heart arrhythmia, lack of circulation (which leads to organ failure) and death.  The drug is illegal in many European countries including Australia and Sweden, but is still sold in the United States over the internet.

• Mephedrone, also known and Meow Meow or MCAT, named because it is chemically similar to the cathinone compounds found in the khat plant of eastern Africa. Despite its similarities Meow Meow is not plant or plant food and is not for human consumption. The stimulant can be consumed by snorting, swallowing or injecting. Users have their perception altered for days, or do not experience ever feeling “normal again”. The drug also causes anxiety, paranoia, heart attacks, violent behavior (including self harm), severe nosebleeds, flashbacks, seizures and death. While the “2cb” family of the drug is illegal in the United States, the “2c1 and 2ce” classifications of the drug are still be sold online under the guise of MDMA and mescaline.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

1. Monitor your child’s internet browser history.  Even if your child has cleared their activity, there is software available that holds onto memory of website visited. You can also block sites that are questionable.
2. Monitor your credit cards, especially any linked with Paypal accounts. If you see charges you don’t recognize, or if you are getting packages in the mail that you didn’t order addressed to your teen, talk to your child.

Members of the Putnam CTC Coalition are available if you have any questions or would like for us to do a presentation to your organization on this or any other substance abuse trends that affect our children.  Please visit and join us on Facebook by searching “Putnam County Communities That Care – NY” or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/PutnamCTCNY or call 845-225-4646.