Ayrshire Teens Warned Against 'Moonshine' Use

Published 22 Nov 2009 15:50 23 Comments

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Strathclyde Police in Ayrshire is warning teenagers a legal product could cause them to become seriously ill.

In recent weeks, several youths have been admitted to hospital with drug-induced symptoms having taken a white powder known as 'Moonshine'. Moonshine is a non-controlled powder sold in capsules and in loose form. It is thought to contain the chemical mephedrone (also known as 4-mmc and methadrone), a plant food not for human consumption. Moonshine has similar effects to some widely available herbal highs and aphrodisiacs.

When sold, Moonshine capsules are often contained within a small, re-sealable plastic bag which has a cannabis leaf motif on it. The plastic bag is usually held inside a cardboard wrap, which is stapled to seal the capsule within. When sold in this way, the cardboard wrap sometimes states the contents are a plant food and not for human consumption. However, some teenagers are ignoring this advice and choosing to ingest the powder. Moonshine is often sold in adult stores but never openly as a drug. It is usually marketed as a plant food or, in some cases, a bath salt.

Within 15 minutes of being taken, Moonshine users can experience breathlessness and dizziness. The effect is similar to those experienced when using MDMA or amphetamines, and can potentially cause users to become seriously ill.

Ayrshire Inspector Kevin Owens said: "A number of local teenagers have been admitted to hospital having taken Moonshine.

"This is a concern to both the police and local NHS staff who are dealing directly with the effects of the drug.

"Should any youths come into possession of Moonshine, I would urge them to hand it in to the police. It is not illegal to sell Moonshine but it is not a substance meant for human consumption. It is usually sold as a plant food or bath salt but targets those seeking a legal 'high'. Like the product GBL/Liquid Ecstasy, Moonshine is being misused across Ayrshire and could seriously affect the health of users. Anyone offered either substance should decline the offer and report the circumstances to their local police."

Dr David Chung, Clinical Director - Accident and Emergency, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, said:

"Young people need to know that Moonshine is totally unsafe and they are putting their lives at risk.

"Moonshine is a plant food. Please don't think that just because a substance is legal it's safe, as Moonshine is most definitely not. It's safe for plants - but not for humans."

David Thomson, South Ayrshire Council's Trading Standards and Environmental Health Service Manager, confirmed the council was aware of Moonshine.

Mr Thomson said: "We are looking into the product and investigations are ongoing. The sale of Moonshine has rightly been raised as a community safety issue and we will report our findings in due course."

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cumnockgirliesdoitgood
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Nov 23, 10:15
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So which undercover police officers abused their postion and badge when they were in Mauchline's pubs on Saturday night?

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elmz
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Nov 23, 18:09
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Its mephedrone not methadrone, idoits

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******
Nov 25, 18:04
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******
Nov 26, 17:27
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pauline macalister
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Dec 1, 14:42
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I can't believe there aint more being done about this it's our children's life's at risk here!! there should be a meeting held at all schools or community halls to discuss this further with parents , kids ect, if they think it's legal they are more likely to dable ! it's an absolute discrace that the website or the people whom make this product do not list the DANGERS ! get your fingers out and do something before any more kids are affected by this !!!!!

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nickygoodwin
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Dec 4, 20:33
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mon the moonshineeee :d:d

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moonshiner
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Dec 12, 00:14
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moonshine tastes great, I snorted a line the other week and now I have a tomato plant growing out of my left nostril,

In all seriousness it really is good, maybe if the govt would reclassify xtc amongst other safe drugs then everyone wouldnt have to hit the legal soon to be illegal highs :(

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David Donaldson
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Dec 30, 13:18
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moonshines the boy, the only safe drug out there. If this becomes illegal it will then be made at home and be cut with heroin etc, then people will die, no person has actually died yet, this drug was released 15 years ago worldwide in such places as austria, amsterdam, usa. And not one single person has died, you open the paper and see that someone has apparrently died from taking the drug. Then they need to remove that off the net because they find out they took something else other than moonshine, get a grip!!!!!

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******
Dec 30, 13:19
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******
Dec 30, 13:19
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moonshiner
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Dec 31, 18:32
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@ david donaldson

first of all moonshine aka mephedrone only became available in 2007, so is a fairly new chemical, and not much is known about short term or long term health effects, so there is every chance that this could be a LOT worse than people expect it to be.

Also who in there right mind is going to cut mephedrone @ £10 per gram with heroin which is a helluva lot more expensive, there was a load of talk about the ecstacy from the 90's and early 00's being cut with smack, this was also not the case for the same reason as above.

a young girl from england has also died after taking mephedrone, however she had also taken a cocktail of other drugs aswell as alcohol.

One thing I will aggree with you on is that Moonshine is indeed the booooy :D

keep safe ;)

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Youthy
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Jan 27, 17:48
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You are playing with your lives if you take this stuff. You do not know that it is safe and you do not know the long term effects, no-one does. its only the BOOOOY until it kills or seriously injures you or one of your friends and then where will you be? That is such a completely irresponsible attitude to your health and to the health of other young people. There are kids the age of 12 taking this crap and it is only gonna get worse. I would rather recomend that you take XTC or cocaine than this, not that I would recomend that eithe

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the informer
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Feb 2, 20:20
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Actually the drug is realativelly harmless. I'm a well read guy and have a friend who does some reaserch on any form of drug that I've ever taken and the facts of the mater are, yes mephedrone will give the user a high and a come down period, but in actually facts does not affect the users immunity to a virus, nor their thyroid glands and the only real problem can be the user can feel unneasy if they take too much.

However, this girl down in england mixed so many different ILLEGAL substances with Mephedrone that it wouldnt have made a difference whether orn not she had taken it in the first place. Furthermore, alcohol consumption with this drug hasnt shown any signs of damaging you or worsening the effect of the comedown.

Currently there are another 2 on the market that are far more powerful than moonshine: Methylone (3x the strength of mephedrone0 or Butylone ( 4x the strength )

thec simple belief that this drug is infact dangerous basing it on one instance of death and several hospital referalls is sheer stupidity. children as young as 7 are out there drinking bottles of vodka for god sake. this reaction to mephedrone could only be heresult of their binge drinking and damage made to themselves already. Furtherresearch is needed before anyone will seriously be convinced.

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Angela
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Feb 8, 13:30
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My daughter know's better than take drugs as i have family members that take illegal drugs and she has seen the effects they have on people's lives and so why is she now putting her life at risk? she tells me she will not stop taking it as she feels good, WHAT!! GET A LIFE!!, take it up the nose just now but how long till some clown injects it and it will happen mark my words! i can only hope this plant food is banned or it's form changed so that kids no longer have acsess to it and fast as i dont want any poor unknowing youngster dying in vein, i was told how a boy of 17 took it last weekend and was rushed to hospital after taking 3 lines, he was foaming at the mouth and screaming in pain, it also thickens the boold as it (MOONSHINE) swells when in it comes into contact with body fluid (BLOOD) and causes blood clots which can cause heart attaks and because it causes clots it will also cut off your blood supply to parts of your body, this ending up in having to have limbs amputated, this is true! so good luck to them who think there lives are not worth more than a snort, kiss your life goodbye. you mite live but what will you be living with in 10 years from now? no-one knows, ON YOUR OWN?NO CHILDERN? NO FAMILY? NO FRIENDS? OR DEAD,who know's it is YOUR LIFE THAT IS BEING RUINED IF YOU CHOOSE DRUGS THAT ARE FOR MUGS!!!!!

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J man
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Feb 14, 22:50
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@ youthy

You would reccoment that people would rather take ecstacy or cocaine???

First of all cocaine is on average 40% coke, with levels dropping to at least 5% of coke, so exactly what else is in the cocaine to bulk it up? It is normally cut with less harmfull stuff, but would be so easy for the dealer to cut it with more dangerous powders.

Ecstacy if you can even call it now is really dangerous with 95% of pills in the uk containing absolutely no MDMA at all and containing stuff such as BZP, speed,tfmpp, and a whole load of others.

A look at a site such as pillreports.com will back this up.

Moonshine - also known as meow/ mcat/bubbles andits real name mephedrone is 99% pure crystal.

Also with it putting people in hospital and resulting in death, look at figures for alcohol and tobacco deaths in the uk, and compare it with mephedrone, it would be more advisable to ban alcohol and tobacco and save the government god knows how much in treatment in hospitals,however with it being highly taxable there is no chance that will ever happen.

@ Angela

how old is your daughter if you dont mind me asking?

also the government is looking into mephedrone as a matter of urgency, but it is more than likely to be around at least 6 months before the law is changed on it.

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andy
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Feb 18, 16:18
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its the boy it cant kill u if u know wot ur doing with it

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being a mum
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Feb 20, 16:14
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Aw god here we go again last week buckie - this week moonshine - next week??????

NO MATTER wots legal or illegal young yins will be curious and rebelious - here's the answer......SHOOT THE BAMS!!!!!! lol

No on a serious note ANY type of drug that is not researched and has hard facts on short AND long term effects should only be knowin as being dangerous and bad for you OR potenially fatal!!!!

My son took moonshine last week for the first time and WHAT A STATE he was in!

All that was missing was him swinging from trees looking for tarzan. His facial expressions much resembled that of a chimpanzee with a major squint in Both eyes.......not very flattering to say the least and for someone who cant walk by a mirror without looking in it and thinking 'man u look good' well it was tad embarrassing for him because yes I did film him on moonshine with my mobile!

He was aware of his surroundings and new what was going on so he was compusmentas enough possibly mentally just seemed drunk! I phoned nhs 24 and they spoke to him on the phone so they were happy enough that he was in no imediate danger! I just sat up talking to him till the early hours to keep an eye on him (yes my eyes were fine because I had'nt took moonshine). Eventualy his eyes focused again and his chin stopped jutting out and his mouth went back to normal shape!

It seemed to be a truth sirrum drug as my son opend up and told me things he would never have normaly! He told me that he had indeed tried ecstasy and cocaine and I new he smoked hash. I dont know if it was moonshine that made him open up or the fact that I was'nt having another all out war with him on smoking hash or drinking buckie. No last wkend I thought whats the point in going daft at him so as I said I chose to listen to him (and film him)!

I still dont agree with even hash and dont think I ever will but moonshine and ecstacy, cocaine etc NO we dont know enough about them and what we do know is that there are many down sides to them so they should NOT be legalised!

Some people will argue the point that drink then has down sides to it?

Yes this is true but as a social drinker myself 'in moderation' I know exactly what I'm like with alcohol and what I'm drinking (unless spiked-but I'm careful)and ofcourse.....its legal!

That I suppose is another point? Alcohol is legal - therefore monitored!

As I said right at the begining of this short novel - kids will rebel and be curious no matter what! All we can do is hope that our children are smart enough to know what is good for them and what is bad! Instill in them and DO NOT incourage them in thinking drugs OR drink are good for you! Promote responsibility and hope they choose to live a drug free life!

But hey whit do a know - am just a mum who loves her kids and wants the best for them!

DONT DO DRUGS!!!!

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shaunlivi
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Feb 24, 04:44
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moan the moonshine yasssssss

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DarrenayeeX
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Mar 1, 13:46
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MON THE MOOOONSHINE ITS GREAT !!AWW THESE STORYS ARE FAKE PLAAANT FOOOD TILL I DIE ( PS. HIII NICKY )

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DarrenayeeX
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Mar 1, 13:47
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SMELL THE WHIITE POWDER !!

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nickygoodwin
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Mar 1, 13:56
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A HAVE THE STRONGEST MEPHEDRONE MONEY CAN BUYYYYYYY :D:D:D

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DarrenayeeX
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Mar 1, 14:00
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HE DOES ACTUALLY !! IT MADE ME HORNY OVER A CHICKEN =D KIDSSS YOU DNT KNO WAT YUR MISSIN - MOOOONSHINE

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DarrenayeeX
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Mar 1, 14:04
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MEPHEDRONE !!!

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DevlinMitchOo
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Mar 1, 23:19
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Heer Thiss Moonshinee is dino , the onlyy time a felt dodgiee wiz when a snonted 5 gram waee a cuppo ehh ma pals went out sidee n whitedd everyware :)) rather funny F*** it man Just Dontt Take Too Muchh n Yeel Bee Finne ... 112 Waee The Moonshinee creww!!

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WeeDarrel
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Mar 4, 14:04
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ayee is it btw, its the dugs baws. first time a tane it a was oot ma***s pure wantin tai **** the flare & askin auld women if a cid lick there nipples ;)) com moan the shiineeee

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******
Mar 11, 21:51
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******
Mar 15, 16:24
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Alan Rae
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Mar 21, 20:12
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Moonshine Is Good At The Time When Your Taken It But After ItIs**** I Have Not Took It For 3 weeks n A Still Feel Weird As **** So On Monday Am Going To Phone The Doctors For A Check Up And Beleve It Or Not Itis The Only Drug I Have Took

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blah blah blah
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Mar 24, 21:11
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Use lot need to get a f**kin grip and take a right gid luk in the mirror!! How long before some one else dies??? You don't think it will be you or someone close to you!! Think again, a hope the lot ae use rot in hell!! Use are all idiots!! Carry on, use are def dicing with death!!!! Munters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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