Wiping her nose to remove any excess residue, Rose* glanced into the mirror. Admiring the shade of her lipstick, she felt a rush of euphoria as the drug she had just snorted began to take effect. 

Rose was out celebrating Halloween, when a friend offered her mephedrone, the ‘legal high’ that appears to have taken the UK party scene by storm. She didn’t hesitate and said: “I just thought, hey, why not?”

“It was quite fun, although the effects don't last that long and so it leaves you wanting more”. She added: “I was quite drunk at the time so it is hard to say what was due to the drug and what was due to the drink.”

Mephedrone has been featured heavily in the media in recent months. Concerns about the drug have come to a head recently as several deaths have been related to its use. Louis Wainright, 18, and Nicholas Smith, 19, both died in Scunthorpe in March following a night out. Police confirmed they had been taking the drug, and more deaths have been linked in recent weeks.

These associations have not put Rose off and she would consider taking the drug again. She said: “As long as you are not stupid and take it too far, I don't see that it would cause that much harm. Of course the deaths are scary but as with everything, there are obviously dangers.” She added: “What is quite scary though, is that very little is actually known about it as it’s relatively new.”

Many Kingston students do not even know about it. In a recent poll conducted by RiverOnline, of 115 people, 20 per cent of respondents had never even heard of the drug. Which is surprising, given the widespread reports in the media in recent months.

Of those polled 23% had tried the drug, while 57 per cent had not tried the drug but had heard of it.

Dr Roland Archer a senior lecturer here at Kingston’s School of Pharmacy and Chemistry has been studying the drug. He said: “We have known about this drug for the last two years and have been keeping an eye on its availability. At one point there were only two or three suppliers on the internet. Public awareness of the drug has increased because of the high profile cases.”

Dr Archer believes that even if the drug was made illegal it would not stop people using it. He said: “Now it has notoriety, even giving this substance Class A status will be unlikely to make the problem go away.”

Katie*, 22, another Kingston student who has used the drug said: “Prohibition tends to push things onto the black market where they get cut with things like worm medicine and drugs end up benefitting nasty people who make big money out of it… it doesn’t stop people taking drugs.”

She added: “I think there's arguments’ towards legalising certain substances so that they can be better controlled, the purity can be assured and less innocent people get exploited. I realise that this is probably never going to be practicable for a government though.”

So far, there have been no clinical trials conducted into the effects of mephedrone but Dr Archer has conducted research with several hospitals in the area looking at cases where patients have been admitted to A&E after taking the drug. He said: “From user reports we have ascertained that these substances are having an effect on the heart and the circulatory system. These effects range from palpitations to a purple discolouration of the joints in the arms and leg.”

Katie’s experiences were quite different and said: “I have had a burning nose and throat, sudden come downs which last a few days, prangy paranoia, an incredibly dry mouth and quite a clenchy jaw.”

Despite the negative effects Katie said she would still consider taking the drug again. “I know there might be occasions where I might be tempted, I would take small amounts if I did, although I would probably regret it again afterwards.”

Dr Archer and his team are already anticipating the next fashionable substance should legislation against the drug be introduced. He said: “Now that controls on mephedrone are imminent we will be looking for the next ‘legal high’. There are a number of avenues which we are looking into to stay as up to date with emerging trends as possible.”

Banning mephedrone will not stop people taking it or other drugs, they will simply look for ways to go around and avoid the law. Toxicology research is needed to fully understand the effects on the drug, and to allow users to make an informed decision on what they put into their body. Only then may speculation relating the drug with recent deaths be answered.

*names have been changed.