AG backs ban of Meow Meow and similar drugs

A legal notice banning the drug Meow Meow has already been written and is simply going through the process for final approval, according to health director general Ray Busuttil.

He said the State’s legal advisor, the Attorney General, agreed with other government experts on the need to work on a “holistic” rethink of how the drug laws were worded, to include “all similar products” of illegal substances. Sources said the government was hoping that by changing the wording of the Drugs Ordinance Act to include “all variations” of all illegal substances, any new derivates that emerged on the market would automatically be covered.

This would effectively close Malta to the worldwide market of legal highs.

When the UK banned Meow Meow last April, the drug market was almost instantly flooded by derivatives of the drug which made use of loopholes in the law.

It is not yet known how the wording of the Maltese law can be changed to encompass all similar products of illegal substances, but sources confirmed this would soon become a priority. They said drug manufacturers and traffickers could, as the law stood, get away with importing and selling certain variations of illegal drugs.

A similar legal loophole was what freed Briton Steve Marsden last November.

He was initially given a 25-year jail term for conspiring to import some 50,000 ecstasy pills. But these were later found to have contained MCPP – a chemical similar to ecstasy’s MDMA but which had not yet been made illegal. By this argument he won his appeal case and was free to go.

By encompassing all derivatives within the law, the police could in future argue that drugs were illegal even if they were not specifically named in the drugs schedule, sources said.

But until the law is reviewed accordingly, Mephedrone – the chemical name of Meow Meow – will be scheduled within the coming weeks.

The drug has been described as very similar to ecstasy and cocaine and is sold over the internet as plant food for about €10 per gram. It is commonly snorted or diluted in drinks and produces euphoric effects, although user reports have said it has disturbing after effects.

It has also been linked with several deaths, particularly in the UK, especially in cases where it was taken with other drugs or copious amounts of alcohol.

Drug experts, even those known for their liberal approach, have argued that the drug is extremely dangerous because it is untested and people do not know what the right dose should be. Its contents and long-term effects are also unknown.