A deadly legal drug can be bought on the streets of Manchester with astonishing ease, an M.E.N. investigation reveals today.

Mephedrone, known as meow or MCAT, has been linked to deaths of a Wigan woman and two Scunthorpe teenagers.

But yesterday an undercover M.E.N. reporter was able to contact two Manchester-based mephedrone sellers through their websites and pick up the drug up on city centre streets an hour later.

Under current laws it is allowed to be sold as 'plant food' or a 'research chemical', so long as the seller states it is not for human consumption. But the drug has become increasingly popular as a cheap way for clubbers to get high.

Health experts have warned it is only a matter of time before more lives are lost.

Websites selling mephedrone say it is not for human consumption but are laced with innuendo about the drug's use.

One Manchester-based site says it is 'a perfect pick-me-up for under-performing, droopy plants' and sells a version of the drug called 'Techno plus'. Techno is a form of dance music.

Another said that a courier is available for late deliveries of the drug on weekends.

An M.E.N reporter called a number on one website and arranged to meet a seller called 'Rico' in the Northern Quarter at lunch time.

After we paid him £50 for five grammes, he winked and told our reporter: “Remember, it's not for human consumption.”

When we confronted him after the sale, he denied winking and said he sells the drug as plant food only.

“If people want to take it, it's nothing to do with me,” he added. “I sell it as plant food. I don't take it myself and I don't recommend that anyone else should.

“Of course people do take it but people overdose on paracetamol too and you can buy that in shops. Our website says it's not for human consumption and all I can say is don't take it.”

An undercover reporter also arranged to meet a second seller near Deansgate at 5pm and paid £40 for  five grammes.

Mephedrone, a white powder, is usually snorted, although it can be taken in pills and capsules.

It has euphoric and hallucinogenic effects but also leads to headaches, palpitations, nose bleeds and high blood pressure.

Because it is taken in large quantities and with other 'party drugs', like ecstasy and ketamine, it can narrow blood vessels and cause heart attacks.

It is thought to have contributed to the deaths of Louis Wainwright, 18, and Nicholas Smith, 19, who died on Monday morning after a night out.

The drug was also linked to the death of Steph Howard, 20, from Leigh, who fell ill and died last month after experimenting with it at a friend's house.

Drugs expert Mike Linnell, from charity Lifeline, said: “It is inevitable that more lives will be lost. There is very little evidence on the effects.

“But, like any powerful stimulant, it will adversely affect people with heart or respiratory problems. So many people are using it that there will be further fatal cases.”

The government's official drug advisers are to make a decision later this month as to whether mephedrone should be banned.

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