The effects and risks associated to mephedrone and methylone in humans: ă A review of the preliminary evidences

Laurent Karila, Joel Billieux, Amine Benyamina (), Christophe Lançon () and Olivier Cottencin ()
Additional contact information
Laurent Karila: OFDT - l'Observatoire français des drogues et des toxicomanies - OFDT
Amine Benyamina: Hôpital Paul Brousse - UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 - AP-HP - Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) - Hôpital Paul Brousse
Christophe Lançon: Hôpitaux Sud - Département Universitaire de Psychiatrie - [Hôpital Sainte Marguerite - APHM] - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - APHM - Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Marseille - Hôpitaux Sud - Hôpital Sainte-Marguerite [CHU - APHM]
Olivier Cottencin: LNFP - Laboratoire de Neurosciences Fonctionnelles et Pathologies - Université de Lille, Droit et Santé - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: New psychoactive substances have drastically modified the world drug ă scene. An increasingly popular class comprises synthetic or substituted ă cathinones (legal highs, research chemicals, bath salts). Among the most ă common psychoactive constituents of bath salts are mephedrone and ă methylone. Recent reports on the abuse of novel synthetic cathinone ă derivatives call attention to the serious physical and psychological ă risks resulting from their consumption, thereby emphasizing the growing ă use of these drugs might constitute an important public health issue. ă In this paper, we will review the available data regarding the use and ă effects of mephedrone and methylone in humans in order to highlight ă their impact on public health. To reach this objective, a literature ă search was performed on two representative databases (Pubmed, Google ă Scholar), the Erowid Center website (a US non-profit educational ă organization that provides information about psychoactive plants and ă chemicals), and various governmental websites. The terms used for the ă database search were ``mephedrone'', ``methylone'', ``new ă psychoactive substances'', ``synthetic cathinones'', ``substituted ă cathinones'', ``substance abuse'', ``substance use disorder'', ă ``adverse effects'', ``fatalities''. The literature search was ă limited to years 2005-2015 and led to the identification of 71 ă potentially relevant articles. ă To date, the actual prevalence rates of their use remains difficult to ă estimate. Important health-related issues have emerged in relation to ă the somatic, psychiatric, and addictive consequences of their use. The ă potential chronic health effects of their prolonged use remain to date ă unknown (e.g., reproductive toxicity, genotoxicity and carcinogenic ă potential). Treatment for patients with prolonged exposure to synthetic ă cathinones should ideally include a drug management plan coupled with ă psychotherapy taking place in a structured program of care. (C) 2016 ă Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Quality; of; Life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-09
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Brain Research Bulletin, 2016, 126 (1, SI), pp.61-67. ⟨10.1016/j.brainresbull.2016.03.005⟩

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01482646

DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2016.03.005

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().