Global Preview for New Portable Drug Testing System

Concateno has announced the broadening of its substance misuse service to include mephedrone confirmation tests. The move follows Health Protection Agency news this month of a large increase in mephedrone-related enquiries to its National Poisons Information Service (NPIS).

“We’ve already carried out hundreds of tests for mephedrone this summer,” said Allan Traynor, Group Head of Scientific Development for Concateno. “Of the hair sections we have analysed for mephedrone, 14% have been positive, which indicates that despite this ‘legal high’ being re-classified as a Class B drug in April, mephedrone has quickly become a feature of substance misuse trends this year. This may well impact on the choices employers, healthcare and child protection professionals make regarding the drug panels they choose when it comes to testing for substance misuse.”

Earlier this month, NPIS revealed in its 2009-10 annual report that it received 4,500 online and 292 telephone enquiries from healthcare professionals relating to mephedrone in the last year – up from none in 2008-09. It was the most common recreational drug to feature in telephone enquiries in 2009-10.

Concateno believes that it is the only company in Europe with the in-house facilities to offer mephedrone testing in all three biological samples - hair, oral fluid and urine. Samples can be collected using any of Concateno’s collection devices, or via a Concateno collecting officer. The tests will look for the specific chemical, giving a definitive answer as to the presence of mephedrone.

Mephedrone (also known as 4-methylmethcathinone or dimethylmethcathinone) was classified as a Class B drug under the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 on April 16, 2010. Common street names include; bubble, drone, MCAT, meph, 4MMC and Mieow or Meow Meow (with spelling variations).

It is a synthetic stimulant, which is chemically related to cathinone, a compound found in khat.

Mephedrone is usually presented as a white powder in ziplock bags, or capsules, selling at between £10 and £30 per gram. It is snorted or taken orally. Doses are generally between 0.5 and 1 gram, with reports of characteristic stimulant-style binge use of up to 10 grams in a session. The effects of mephedrone have been described as being a cross between MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine / amphetamine