The first reports of traffic synthetic cathinones date back to 2007-2008 in France. These molecules are designed on the chemical model of an alkaloid from the leaf of khat, an evergreen shrub grown in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula whose leaves are most often chewed fresh. They have effects similar to amphetamines.
The main risk of these substances used for their stimulating properties is the installation of multiple addictions, because they are taken in conjunction with other psychostimulant and addictive substances: alcohol, cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine…
But be careful, it must be understood that the consumption of these synthetic cathinones in France in 2024 is not a wave that sweeps everything in its path. Their consumption is (still) marginal and ultimately affects a small number of users. News items and fascination of the public and the media, particularly via the case of the accident caused by the comedian Pierre Palmade, have given them a somewhat exaggerated importance.
What are… new psychoactive substances?
THE " new psychoactive substances » (NSP) or « new synthetic products » (NPS) designate phenethylamines, synthetic cannabinoids, Opioids of synthesis, of NBOMe and synthetic cathinones.
These molecules are designed and manufactured every year, nearly 400 since 2015 and at the end of 2020, they were according to a MILDECA report, about 830. Why “news”? The term returns HAS "any substance abused for purposes of abuse, whether pure or in preparation, not controlled by the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 or by the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, and which may represent a threat to public health."
The recreational use of cathinones appeared in the 1970s, with the first syntheses being made in 1928 and 1929 for methcathinone and mephedrone respectively.
Synthetic cathinones, a large family
Synthetic cathinones were in 2022 the second most important chemical group new psychoactive substances reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) alert network, after synthetic cannabinoids.
They are called mephedrone, pentedrone, naphyrone, methedrone, buphedrone, butylone, NRG2, NRG3, MDPV, Alpha-PVP, 2 MMC, 3-MMC, 4-MMC, 4-MEC, 3-CMC…; the list is not exhaustive.
To avoid customs, they were renamed "bath salts", "plant fertilizers", "incense", "legal euphoriants" (Legal highs), “vegetable euphoriants” (Herbal highs), “research chemicals” (Research chemicals) with the words “not suitable for human consumption”.
With these substances described as " Designers "It is the world of drugs that is being transformed, observe addictologists from the Parisian Addictovigilance Centers at the Fernand-Widal Hospital and at Marmottan in a Publication dating from 2015.
On one side, old drugs, and on the other, synthetic substances resulting from a Lego rearranging molecules to mimic or reinforce the effects of other substances: " The synthesis of a new "sister" molecule is achieved by a simple substitution on the molecular skeleton of the original molecule to circumvent the legislation." Cathinones like other NSPs are easily created by clandestine laboratories in Europe.
Every year since the very first seizures, investigators have discovered new molecules: between 2014 and 2022, 120 new cathinones have been reported to the European NSP monitoring system (EU Early Warning System). EUDA
They can also be imported from India and China and arrive in Europe in the form of unregulated chemical molecules or precursors. What the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) calls a " chemical masking". It is then sufficient to assemble and convert these legal substances into regulated (i.e. prohibited) psychoactive substances.
In 2010, only mephedrone or 4-MMC was mentioned in the French Official Journal. During the period of a few years, synthetic cathinones have probably become one of the Most commonly used drug families in Europe and North America, because they represented a "legal" alternative to the Cocaine, amphetamine and MDMA.
To combat illegal chemists, French law strikes back. July 2012, it is the whole family of " substituents of the chemical formula of the base molecule " which is declared illegal. The circumvention continues however by a possible supply on merchant websites.
What forms do cathinones take?
Cathinones are sold as amorphous or crystalline powders, white or brown, sometimes in capsules, explains EUDA.
More rarely, they could also appear in the form of tablets when they are associated with MDMA, or in Vaping liquids. When sniffed, the effects appear after only a few minutes. Swallowed, the delay would be 15 to 45 minutes.
Confusion over composition
A worrying fact reported by theEUDA, and notes in 2023 on the ground in Ile-de-France by the OFDT TREND system: the consumer, very often, does not know what is contained in the drug he is buying.
3-MMC ("the 3") was the most anticipated cathinone in 2022 and 2023 by users. However, the samples analyzed revealed other synthetic cathinones with different effects.
Seizure of 141 grams of 3-MMC by the Marseille surveillance brigade, placed under seal, in Marseille, France, on May 17, 2024. Credit Anne-Sophie NIVAL / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP.
Another case: the falsification of MDMA products with synthetic cathinones, reported in 2022 to the European Union's early warning system. These products with mysterious components increase the risk of unknown effects and potential harmful effects: addiction and danger of overdose, risks linked to fluctuating dosages. The site Analysis of Tons Prod explains that " The cathinone market is evolving rapidly and one molecule can gradually replace another, without the name of the product sold changing.".
Effects of cathinones on the body
Consumers expect the following effects: euphoria, stimulation, increased empathy, strong desire to socialize, amplified sensory perceptions. With less pleasant side effects such as restless sleep, fatigue, blurred vision, dizziness, distorted perception of time, thirst and sweating, memory loss, jaw muscle contractions, tachycardia, vomiting.
However, variations from one molecule to another, and for the same molecule, from one batch to another, must be expected, as well as taking into account, as with a medicine, parameters which vary from one user to another: weight and state of health, current consumption or not, dosage and joint intake with other drugs.
In the long term, with very repeated use, one may experience persistent feelings of irritability, anxiety, insomnia and loss of appetite, depression.
One synthetic cathinone does not have the same effects as another.
Not all synthetic cathinones have the same stimulant and hallucinogenic effects. Of course, they are the same chemical family, but there are several ways to construct them, to structure them chemically.
Each of these molecules has its own absorption and elimination speed, its own distribution and its own way of producing metabolites in our body. At the level of our neurotransmitters, they can have an action serotonergic, dopaminergic, an “amphetamine-like” or “cocaine-like” effect! But it is on the transport of dopamine that their action is substantial: the risk of addiction is very high.
Research still knows too little about the pharmacology and toxicology of these molecules which appear every year, it is important according to Gregory Pfau, addiction specialist and director Analyze your Ile-de-France product, to turn to the " experiential knowledge » users and product analysis in the field.
Who are the users of cathinones?
The first recorded uses of cathinones were in the confidential circles of chemsexers, the Chemsex being the sexual practice between men using psychoactive substances to remove disinhibitions and enhance libido and sensations.
For this category of users, the intake is mainly done intravenously, called Slam. Then in a few years, to this specific use was added a more "classic" consumption linked to festive circles. The consumption of cathinones also concerns people located " on the edge Free parties [And] sex worker audiences“.
It should be noted that synthetic cathinones represent a very small percentage of users compared to cannabis consumption, which is by far the most significant.
Clement Gerome, national coordinator of the TREND system, confirmed this low level of use to us by email, based on figures collected in 2023 : There is " Indeed, prevalence rates in the general population are extremely low: 0.7% of use/life; 0.3% of use in the year, so it is an extremely minority, marginal fraction of the population that is concerned“.
In 2024, the popularity of 3-MMC
The cathinone market is extremely fluid. In 2024, the cathinone that is gaining ground is 3-MMC, or 3-methylmethcathinone.
She is part of the substances monitored very closely by the network European alert, due to the volume of seizures made in Europe and the dozens of deaths.
The substance has been dubbed "new cocaine" although it does not have the same pharmacological properties as cocaine or the same number of users. Its relatively low price contributes to its popularity in party areas.
The Trend 2023 report on trends observed in Ile-de-France notes that 3-MMC is "became an initiation product to psychoactive substances as well as to the method of nasal consumption", as can cocaine. Thus, new users experiment with 3-MMC first, before using other products such as cocaine, MDMA, or ketamine.
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