Last Updated:

January 30th, 2026

Mephedrone addiction: Signs, symptoms and side-effects

Mephedrone, known as “meow meow” or “M-Cat”, exploded onto Britain’s club scene in 2009. You could buy it legally from headshops, marketed as plant food, and it felt safer than cocaine because it wasn’t illegal yet. That changed in April 2010 when several deaths forced the government to make mephedrone a Class B drug, and possession now means up to five years in prison. But while mephedrone abuse did drop significantly after the ban, there are still people in Britain who use it and become addicted. It is important to know just how dangerous mephedrone addiction and abuse can be to keep yourself safe.

Mephedrone-Addiction-Women-Feeling-Depression

What is mephedrone addiction?

Mephedrone is a form of novel psychoactive substance addiction where mephedrone use continues despite physical, emotional, or social consequences. Mephedrone enters your bloodstream fast when you snort it, and this then supercharges your brain with dopamine and serotonin at the same time. It can feel somewhere in between cocaine and ecstasy, but only lasts about an hour before you crash hard.

And that is where the trap is. Mephedrone comedown hits fast enough to make you want more immediately, but not so bad that you stop completely. People can end up taking it again and again for entire weekends, and barely sleeping. Tolerance can develop remarkably quickly, and over a weekend, huge amounts of mephedrone are often taken.

After regular mephedrone abuse, your brain stops making enough dopamine on its own. That means if you don’t take mephedrone, you become dopamine-deprived, which creates withdrawal symptoms like intense cravings, anxiety, and deep depression. It is very common to relapse at this point because these feelings are just too much.

When this becomes a pattern, mephedrone abuse becomes firmly part of your daily routine. Dealing with stress, work, school, relationships, or anything else can become very hard if you’re not high. Eventually, you are completely addicted, unable to stop, even though it’s clear you are in trouble.

How to identify mephedrone addiction signs

Mephedrone addiction develops quickly because of how fast you want to redose. Many people are in addiction denial because they just can’t believe they can become addicted that fast. But these mephedrone addiction signs mean you need to get help:

  • You’re using mephedrone all the time, not just on nights out or at parties.
  • You binge on mephedrone for days straight with no sleep.
  • You’re buying grams or even ounces at a time.
  • You want more mephedrone within 20 minutes of your last dose.
  • Your nose bleeds constantly from snorting mephedrone.
  • You hide how much you’re using from people who care.
  • You call in sick to work repeatedly after using.
  • You’re spending hundreds of pounds you can’t afford.
  • You’ve tried stopping, but can’t manage it.

Why is mephedrone addictive?

Mephedrone hits your brain’s pleasure systems harder than most drugs, but the real problem is how fast you peak, crash, and become tolerant. This creates days-long binges of ever-increasing amounts, which make mephedrone dependence almost inevitable. But several other factors are tied to mephedrone addiction:

It used to be legal, so people think it’s safer

Until 2010, you could buy any amount of mephedrone you wanted from shops and online. Being legal made people think the government had checked it was okay. Even now, years after the ban, many people still wrongly treat it as less dangerous than other illegal drugs.

The urge to take more is overwhelming
With mephedrone abuse, you peak in 20 minutes, then come down hard, with intense cravings. Unlike other drugs where you can pace yourself, mephedrone makes you take dose after dose all weekend, often way more than you planned or can afford.
Everyone was doing it, so it felt normal
In 2009 and 2010, surveys found 41% of clubbers had used mephedrone. Even now, when everyone around you is using openly, your own use may not feel like a problem. If your friendship group is still using mephedrone, that makes it hard to spot when you’ve crossed into addiction.
It is often cheap and easy to get
When it was legal, mephedrone cost about a third of what cocaine did, and you could order loads online cheaply. Even after the ban, it has stayed cheaper than most party drugs and is still widely available in certain scenes. When money or availability isn’t stopping you, it is easier to mephedrone heavily and become addicted.

Mephedrone Addiction Man Having Panic Attack

Mephedrone side-effects and addiction dangers

Regular mephedrone abuse does serious damage that gets worse the longer you use and the more you take. Some of the worst damage which contributed to the ban includes:

Mephedrone overdose
Mephedrone stops your body from controlling temperature properly, and if you are dancing for hours, your temperature can reach dangerous levels without you noticing. This is similar to the lethal effects of ecstasy, and it was these mephedrone overdose effects that killed people at UK clubs and contributed to its ban. Seizures can also happen during mephedrone abuse or when you stop, especially if you’ve been binging for days. Mixing mephedrone with other stimulants or alcohol increases all of these serious risks.
Heart problems
Mephedrone makes your heart race and your blood pressure spike for hours. During multi-day binges, your heart never gets proper rest, and even young, healthy people have ended up in the hospital with chest pain and dangerous heart rhythms. Long-term mephedrone misuse damages your heart permanently, because it has to work harder all the time, and some people develop an irregular heartbeat that doesn’t go away.
Your mental health falls apart
Heavy mephedrone abuse causes paranoia, extreme anxiety, psychosis, and possible schizophrenic episodes. Depression during withdrawal and due to the personal harm of addiction can be incredibly severe, and some users have been admitted to the hospital for serious psychiatric conditions.
Nasal damage
Snorting mephedrone burns immediately and causes constant nosebleeds. Persistent mephedrone misuse can permanently destroy the cartilage in your nose, and some people get holes in their septum, constant infections, and lose their sense of smell.

What does mephedrone addiction recovery involve?

You need professional help to stop mephedrone because the depression and cravings make it nearly impossible to quit alone. Inpatient drug detox gives you professional planning and monitoring when you stop, particularly for depression, exhaustion, and anxiety. Some people in mephedrone detox feel suicidal, and they may need medication to help with these extreme reactions to withdrawal.

New psychoactive substance rehab then works on the anxiety, social pressure, or whatever else pushed you to mephedrone misuse and dependency. There are rehab programmes up and down the country, but the best provide:

  • A wide range of therapies
  • Individual and group therapy and counselling
  • Inpatient care
  • Relapse prevention planning
  • Aftercare and alumni services

Long-term recovery from mephedrone also needs ongoing treatment, and for you to hold yourself accountable. This may mean avoiding certain people or social scenes, joining local support groups and NA meetings, and creating a lifestyle plan that you stick to.

Real recovery starts with a single decision that you don’t want to be a prisoner to mephedrone addiction anymore. Once you decide that, Recovery.org can help with all the rest. Contact us to find the right treatment programme and begin your healing journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is mephedrone the same as methadone?
No, the names are similar, but they are completely different drugs. Mephedrone is a stimulant like cocaine. Methadone is an opioid painkiller used to treat heroin addiction. Some people have thought mephedrone was a safe medication because of the name, but it’s an illegal Class B drug that is very dangerous.
When did mephedrone become illegal?
Mephedrone became illegal in Britain on April 16, 2010. Before that, it was sold legally as “plant food” from shops and websites, but several deaths and growing addiction problems forced the ban. Mephedrone is still available through illegal dealers, but possession now gets you up to five years in prison.
Why do you want more mephedrone so quickly?
Mephedrone peaks fast, then crashes within 20 minutes, which creates an overwhelming urge to take more immediately. This leads to massive doses in a short amount of time, which increases the risks of mephedrone overdose, tolerance, and addiction.

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