Hove man killed by legal high meow (From The Argus)
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Hove man killed by legal high meow
12:30pm Thursday 18th March 2010 in
The death of a man in Hove was caused by the legal high meow, police have confirmed.
Toxicology tests revealed last night that John Sterling Smith, 46, died after being poisoned by the drug, which is available legally on the internet for as little as £11 a gram.
Mr Smith, who worked at Marks and Spencer in Chichester, suffered a heart attack after taking a fatal dose of the drug.
He was found dead at his flat in Arundel House, The Drive, Hove.
His death is the first in Britain to be proven to have been caused by the drug, known as mephedone, meow, miaow miaow or MM-cat.
Mr Smith’s brother, businessman Roger Smith, 51, from Shropshire, last night spoke of the family’s shock.
He said: "I had no idea he would even try this kind of thing. We were shocked that he died so young, but even more so to find out how he died.
"As far as I know he would not have taken an illegal drug.
"This stuff is legal so people make the mistake of thinking it’s safe. I hadn't even heard of it before but why anyone would experiment with a chemical that is supposed to be a tomato fertiliser is a total mystery.
"If anything at all good can come from John's death, I hope it can be a warning to anyone thinking of trying it - just don't. It could kill you.
"Sadly, people will try it as long as it's legal, whatever the risk. The Government needs to ban it, urgently.”
Two men from Brighton, aged 35 and 40, were arrested at Mr Smith’s home on suspicion of supply of class A drugs on the night he died. They have been bailed until May 5.
Comments(29)
Mr_Tom
says...
1:06pm Thu 18 Mar 10
Granny
says...
1:38pm Thu 18 Mar 10
censored
says...
1:41pm Thu 18 Mar 10
Just one meow, else it sounds ridiculous.
People need to be warned though, so the article should make reference to it's other street names: quack candles and clarky cat
Patrick Mustard
says...
2:41pm Thu 18 Mar 10
censored wrote:If I want to get off my mash on ecstasy pipes, I prefer to inject The Horse.
No-one calls it meow meow. Just one meow, else it sounds ridiculous. People need to be warned though, so the article should make reference to it's other street names: quack candles and clarky cat
Remember kids, this is a made up drug. There is no real evidence for that, but it is scientific fact
fightagainst meow
says...
3:00pm Thu 18 Mar 10
Tammy Flugh
says...
3:12pm Thu 18 Mar 10
Does anyone really believe that?
If anyone wants fertiliser, they go down to B & Q and buy a pound of it. For much much less than £10 a gram.
It's a fiction to get round food safety laws.
ziggystarduck
says...
3:13pm Thu 18 Mar 10
trans. - "I don't know anything about my brother's relationship with drugs"
"As far as I know he would not have taken an illegal drug."
trans. - "I do know something about my brother's relationship with drugs"
Make your mind up Roger. Either that or get off your soapbox.
RickH
says...
3:47pm Thu 18 Mar 10
Mr_Tom wrote:Re the arrest point; because the Police (in their campaign to get this drugged banned) have adopted a policy of an automatic arrest and a charge relating to Class A drugs and searching the homes of those arrested. This is despite it being perfectly legal and there being no evidence of Class A use/supply/possessio
if this man was killed by the legal high meow (a legal drug) alone, why were there two other men at his home who have been detained for the supply of class A drugs? what else was he taking? and how daft do people have to be to think that any 'drug' you buy on a street corner be it meow, Ketamine, Cocaine or otherwise is 'safe', I think if you are going to indulge in these kinds of activities as an adult then you take responsibility for any consequences! I know that drinking bleach is not going to do me any good, but if I choose to do it whose responsibility is it that I did? people put far too much emphasis on the classification of drugs and not enough on the education of the people taking them! you think your average weekend user is going to care if you classify it as illegal?
n being involved. Some would call it sensible, others stretching the word of the law to the limit, others pure scare tactics. No doubt the charges are quietly dropped if nothing untoward is found. I wonder, though, if anything confiscated is ever returned if not an illegal substance. Hope that clarifys. Otherwise, completely agree - where is the personal responsibility in all this? Like the two lads' deaths The Sun is touting at the moment; never mind they'd already consumed a lot of alcohol as well as Methodone (the herion substitute) before taking the Meow; £5 on the combination of alcohol & methodone being the killer rather than the Meow in those cases (bit like it being pneumonia in the recent case in Brighton) but sadly won't stop the hysterical over-reactions by the Press et al.
ade1200
says...
3:49pm Thu 18 Mar 10
another village idiot
says...
4:39pm Thu 18 Mar 10
ade1200 wrote:ade1200 - There are lots of 50 plus people doing coke, ectasy, this baby bio stuff. It is surprising, but never the less real. Theres a lot of it about.
Dont ban. Anyone who is stupid enough to be taking stuff like this has to take responsibility for it. Though perhaps take the cost to the emergency services out of his life insurance settlement, if he had one. Can't believe someone of that age hasn't discovered something better in life than taking drugs...
LimpWristed
says...
5:05pm Thu 18 Mar 10
corruptive
says...
5:39pm Thu 18 Mar 10
bibble
says...
6:21pm Thu 18 Mar 10
cheezburger
says...
6:32pm Thu 18 Mar 10
censored wrote:Sorry i beat you to the cake reference weeks ago when i mentioned Shatners Bassoon :)
No-one calls it meow meow. Just one meow, else it sounds ridiculous. People need to be warned though, so the article should make reference to it's other street names: quack candles and clarky cat
Gaz the great
says...
6:33pm Thu 18 Mar 10
bibble
says...
6:51pm Thu 18 Mar 10
Gaz the great wrote:Drugs are not banned because they are "bad for you".
Why would anybody want to shove "plant food" up their nose? However there could be a media over-kill on this subject! If you believe the Daily Mail people who smoke cannabis are all deranged, psychotic, axe wielding manics but 99.9% that I have met, are not. Still think that drugs are bad for you though.
.
If you happen to suffer a severe injury which causes atrocious pain, you could well be given morphine. Yet that is a "banned" substance in other circumstances.
TheInsider
says...
7:17pm Thu 18 Mar 10
You name it there will always be people of all social backgrounds and levels of intelligence who will do anything for a thrill.
Sadly, some people die.
Gaz the great
says...
12:50am Fri 19 Mar 10
bibble wrote:Regardless of your passionate support to drugs, I still believe they are bad for you, including drink, cigarettes or prescribed medication. If the goverment thought that they could sell both legal & illegal "highs" with tax added to them, they probably would. This however still does not me stop me popping in the pub a couple of nights per week.
Gaz the great wrote: Why would anybody want to shove "plant food" up their nose? However there could be a media over-kill on this subject! If you believe the Daily Mail people who smoke cannabis are all deranged, psychotic, axe wielding manics but 99.9% that I have met, are not. Still think that drugs are bad for you though.Drugs are not banned because they are "bad for you". . If you happen to suffer a severe injury which causes atrocious pain, you could well be given morphine. Yet that is a "banned" substance in other circumstances.
Eyes On The 3rd Floor
says...
9:41am Fri 19 Mar 10
TheInsider wrote:There is still a point to 'banning' these substances as by not doing so, they are much more widely available.
It's sad for families, but there is little point in 'banning' legal or illegal highs because people will always find something to get off their heads with whether its, glue, butane, Tippex thinner, felt tipped pens, lighter fluid, glue, paint stripper, burned banana skins soaked in cat wee. You name it there will always be people of all social backgrounds and levels of intelligence who will do anything for a thrill. Sadly, some people die.
However, 'banning' brings around street trade and that's where things get dodgy.
If any of this stuff was legalised to be sold, it could be tested and researched to reduce the risks and distributed in a controlled manner.
The full effects of this new substance are still unknown and that is why it is so dangerous.
Spanners
says...
9:54am Fri 19 Mar 10
bibble wrote:Yes, it does and they should - the stealthy little barstewards spend their days hiding in tasty morsels and trying kill me. I'm not being paranoid here - they really are out to get me
Nuts are poisonous to some people. Does that mean that nuts should be banned.
MisterB
says...
1:33pm Fri 19 Mar 10
Rita Snatch
says...
1:36pm Fri 19 Mar 10
Meow is starting to be a a time-consuming problem for us as we pick up collapsed people (who later admit to taking Meow), lying unconscious in their own vomit.
An ambulance is normally summonsed as I find their heart rate is tachycardic at 120 or higher .. at risk of heart failure and death.
We ban any person found to have taken drugs that affect the safety of others and their own personal safety, in the same manner that we ban excessive alcohol consumption takers. These people need to realise that they don't just cause problems for themselves and that it spoils others enjoyment.
RickH
says...
2:51pm Fri 19 Mar 10
Rita Snatch wrote:And, of course, there's no profit to be made by the club from meow, so another drive why you'd be only too pleased to see it banned! And I wonder the proportion of those in a pool of vomit from alcohol compared to other substances.
I work in a nightclub. Meow is starting to be a a time-consuming problem for us as we pick up collapsed people (who later admit to taking Meow), lying unconscious in their own vomit. An ambulance is normally summonsed as I find their heart rate is tachycardic at 120 or higher .. at risk of heart failure and death. We ban any person found to have taken drugs that affect the safety of others and their own personal safety, in the same manner that we ban excessive alcohol consumption takers. These people need to realise that they don't just cause problems for themselves and that it spoils others enjoyment.
Mr Lahey
says...
6:45pm Fri 19 Mar 10
While i agree with the next comments, which will be along the lines of 'I would expect it from the troglydytes who drink in there' - i hasten to add that criminalizing it will at least educate the people who assume legality means safety. (although will probably cause sellers to stockpile and create a black market)
TheInsider
says...
8:49pm Fri 19 Mar 10
I do wish their parents would stop grumbling about it.
I much prefer to freebase Valium.
RickH
says...
9:17pm Fri 19 Mar 10
Mr Lahey wrote:The information regarding its safety and maximum does is obtainable on the Internet. I did my research and all the sites very clearly state MAX does 0.5g per night, DO NOT drink heavily and DO NOT mix with other drugs. (Apologies for capitals - for emphasis). If you're smart enough to use the net to buy, you're smart it enough to find the info! Simples
the amount of over 50's who do it is understimated - go into the pub opposite Co-Op on Lewes Road (no names mentioned) on a Friday night and see for yourself - they buy it because it's cheap and legally available While i agree with the next comments, which will be along the lines of 'I would expect it from the troglydytes who drink in there' - i hasten to add that criminalizing it will at least educate the people who assume legality means safety. (although will probably cause sellers to stockpile and create a black market)
Mr Lahey
says...
11:03pm Fri 19 Mar 10
RickH wrote:All very well, but the young lads who sell it in the toilets don't necessarily punctuate the transaction with a disclaimer, you know, not being chemists and/or people who care
Mr Lahey wrote: the amount of over 50's who do it is understimated - go into the pub opposite Co-Op on Lewes Road (no names mentioned) on a Friday night and see for yourself - they buy it because it's cheap and legally available While i agree with the next comments, which will be along the lines of 'I would expect it from the troglydytes who drink in there' - i hasten to add that criminalizing it will at least educate the people who assume legality means safety. (although will probably cause sellers to stockpile and create a black market)The information regarding its safety and maximum does is obtainable on the Internet. I did my research and all the sites very clearly state MAX does 0.5g per night, DO NOT drink heavily and DO NOT mix with other drugs. (Apologies for capitals - for emphasis). If you're smart enough to use the net to buy, you're smart it enough to find the info! Simples
TheInsider
says...
12:03am Sat 20 Mar 10
Stop babysitting adults and let them kill themselves. It's a personal choice to end one's life.
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VICTIM: John Sterling Smith
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cheezburger says...
12:38pm Thu 18 Mar 10
Its a shame for the guy and for his family. Maybe now a death has been driectly linked to it then there will be legislation soon. Which is no comfort for the family, but may save another family.