M-cat users turn to crime

People in Newark who have never previously been in trouble with the law are turning to crime to pay for drug binges lasting up to four days.

Police say use of mephedrone, more commonly known as m-cat or miaow miaow, is rife in the area. The drug was made illegal 18 months ago.

Before then manufacturers got round pharmaceutical licensing laws by claiming it was plant food.

Detective Constable Colin Howes, of Newark CID, a field drug tester for the police, said: “The problem with m-cat is rife in Newark.

“People are living on it. They don’t want to come down from the high so they buy more.

“They can’t afford the amount they need so are committing crime to buy it.

“People using it can go three to four days without sleep and during that time they don’t know what they are doing.

“The rational part of the brain they would normally listen to isn’t there to be listened to.

“We recently had a series of burglaries that were committed to fund m-cat use. We are seeing people in their 20s committing crime who have never been in trouble.

“M-cat is a drug with severe short-term side effects but we have no idea about its long-term effects because it hasn’t been around long enough for studies to take place.”

Dc Howes said new dealers were emerging.

“Traditionally, we’ve always known who the dealers are,” he said.

“Now, previously respectable people who have never been on our radar before are emerging and selling to fund their own habits.

“We still have heroin and amphetamine criminals but this is a new wave.

“I have never seen a new drug become so widely used to rival what is already out there.

“Its use is increasing drastically and it is destroying people’s lives.”

Dc Howes said m-cat was sold for £10 to £20 a gramme.

Anyone with information on drug dealing or other crime should call Newark Police on 101.