You could get a part-time job in a shop. You could get a part-time job in a restaurant. Or, like one 22-year-old Bournemouth student, you could cash in on the latest drug craze.
Steven (not his real name), who studies a business degree at Bournemouth University, started dealing the legal-high mephedrone along with his housemates.
Mephedrone, also known as Miaow Miaow, MMcat, and Bubbles, is taking the UK club scene by storm. It is a plant fertiliser and comes in powdered form. It’s currently legal, although has faced calls for a ban from politicians and the police. While it’s legal, people like Steven are cashing in on the market.
“You purchase it off the internet and then… you get massive economies of scale if you buy a lot. It works out to about four pounds a gram, and we bought fifty inititially and [sold] that. It went in about three or four days. So then we got 250, and that’s going at the moment. The 250 grams is £1100. So we got it at that, then we sell it and will pretty much make about £4800…. so there’s about £3700 profit,” says Steven.
“We thought do it at our house and split all the money between us.”
Having seen others doing it in Bournemouth, he and his housemates saw an opportunity to make easy money by using their large social circle as their market. “The majority of people we sell it to we know, it’s not like we’re out selling it on the streets to sixteen or seventeen year-old little kids who might not have a clue about what they’re buying.
“We make sure we know that the people we’re selling it to aren’t likely to go silly on it and we warn them that it’s quite strong,” he says.
Its legality causes some people to think that it’s safe. Steven says: “Where it’s legal, you get the people who would never do drugs… who love it and do it on casual student nights… Where it’s legal, loads of people getting on it don’t really know too much about it. They just think it’s not going to do them any harm. You get a lot of people going a bit silly on it. Fair enough at raves and that, but at normal student nights it’s a bit random.”
Steven says he’s not worried about being caught: “As far as I’m aware, they can’t really do anything. I do think about it, but I don’t think they can do an awful lot.
“As soon as it becomes illegal then we’re going to stop doing it.”
Although I’m really not a fan of any kind of drugs save for alcohol and caffeine (in moderation), fair play to them.
It is illegal under the medicines act to sell mephadrone on a street level. Sorry guys, if you get caught selling it, it will probably go on your record.
I’m interested to know which part of the medicines act prohibits its sale on the street? The whole point of it being sold as ‘plant fertiliser’, ‘bath salts’ and any other imaginative names people have come up with is specifically intended to circumnavigate the medicines act.
Take the head shops that sell it for example; they’re not licensed in anyway, and as far as I can see, the only distinguishing feature between themselves and someone selling it on the street is some bricks and mortar around them.
Personally, I’d be more concerned about the police with sour grapes trying to charge you with tax evasion (assuming it’s not all being declared).
Wow, an article on mephedrone that didn’t make me want to shoot myself in the face. Way to go The Linc!!
In reply to David Northcott’s comment of:
‘I’m interested to know which part of the medicines act prohibits its sale on the street?’
…read this article. http://ezinearticles.com/?Mephedrone-Drug-Law-and-When-it-Will-%28Probably%29-Be-Made-Illegal-in-the-UK&id=3698262
I currently have a friend being prosecuted for selling mephedrone for human consumption, and he is looking at a couple of years inside. They got his details from the site that he was getting the mephedrone from. Like the person in this article he was buying thousands of pounds worth at a time, but with the inability to provide reciepts or contacts to prove that he was selling it as a fertilizer, among other incriminatin info on his phone and PC etc, they concluded that it was in being sold, with knowledge, for human consumption.
Also, as David stated about tax evasion. Im guessing that the person in this article has made profits of a couple of tens of thousands of pounds. Considering the average wage in the UK is about £24,000, not declaring it will be taken very seriously by the police. Again, this is another thing that my mate is being done for.
Jus saying that you really should be careful when you think you’re being ‘clever’ by trying to make money this way.
Perhaps Antonia Smith of The Times wants to eat her socks after reading this article as she has been suggesting that all drugs should be legalised. As this person above suggests when it is legal people think it is ok and even non-drug users may try it to see what it is!I really think this should be classed as a drug and treated that way.
Just for information -This week (May 11th) this and many other products sold legally were banned in Ireland (Republic) – interesting to see how this works and if loopholes will be found.