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It was the main story on the Today programme and the splash in today's Sun; the death of two young men from a drug known popularly as "meow meow". Its proper name is "mephedrone" and is legally marketed as a plant food.

Carol Cooper, "Sun doctor", explains:

"It is popular because it's legal and easy to buy. The drug gives users hallucinations and makes them feel really excited. But it's extremely addictive so people might buy a lot of it expecting that it will last for a few days, but end up taking it all in one go. Meow meow can cause nose bleeds, dilated pupils and teeth grinding. It can also give you palpitations. Because people take a lot of it - and often take it with other drugs such as ketamine - it can also cause blood vessels to narrow and bring on a cardiac arrest."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling has this morning said there is a "very strong case" for banning the drug:

“We think there is a very strong case for banning mephedrone and other so-called ‘legal highs’. There is mounting evidence to suggest these drugs are doing real damage to people’s health. An incoming Conservative Government would mount an urgent review of these substances with a view to adding them to the list of banned substances.”

Tim Montgomerie

11.30am: Some comments in the thread below suggest that the Tories are jumping on a bandwagon here. Nonsense. Chris Grayling and Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Brokenshire are actually hosting a long-arranged summit on drugs like mephedrone later today.

4.45pm: Statement from CCHQ:

"The Conservatives are planning to introduce a system of temporary bans on new drugs that can give so-called "legal-highs" while health issues are considered by independent experts. The move follows mounting concern over the emergence of new drugs like Mephedrone, which are being widely and legally used despite emerging evidence to suggest they may pose a serious health risk. The measure was discussed at a summit of drug experts held by the Party today. Also at the meeting was Maryon Stewart, mother of the medical student Hester Stewart who died after taking the drug GBL which was legal at the time of her death. The Government was criticised for taking eighteen months before deciding to ban it. The Conservatives are planning immediate bans of up to a year to allow a full assessment to be carried out of the impact of the drugs, and they say there is a very strong case for other new drugs like Mephedrone to be banned permanently.
 
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said:

"We have been warning the Government for some time about the risk posed by so-called "legal highs". It's now much too easy for an existing drug to be slightly reconstituted to make it legal, and it takes too long to decide whether or not it should be banned. We should be able to ban these new drugs temporarily until there is a proper assessment of the risks they present, and then do so permanently for those that are shown to be dangerous.""

After Andrew Marr's question to Gordon Brown on whether he was using pain-killing drugs (his answer was "no" - watch here) CCHQ is ready for a similar kind of question next week when David Cameron is on the Sunday morning couch.  You can bet that Downing Street will be pressuring the Marr team into tough questioning.

The expectation is that it will be on David Cameron's drug history.  This ground was so well-trodden in the Tory leadership race, however, that I can't see it of being political importance.

A lot of centre right blogs enjoyed Marr's question today and think it excuses years of soft ball questioning from the BBC's former Political Editor.  I cannot agree.  What Britain lacks is a serious interviewer of the Tim Russert variety.  His Meet The Press interviews (until his untimely death) were forensic examinations of the policy positions of American politicians.  Marr's interviews rarely yield anything interesting.

Should Marr have asked the question?  I certainly found it uncomfortable to watch but agree with James Forsyth that "if Brown was on anti-depressants that could affect his judgement then the public has a right to know."  But James' second point is also very true: "I wonder if Brown should have been asked such a question without some more evidence for it to be based on. Even though, Brown said that he wasn’t on any pills the mere fact of him being asked if he was will have an effect on how voters view him."

One of the weaknesses of political journalism in Britain is the way it is more interested in personality issues, opinion polls, what's new rather than what's important and the 'who's up, who's down' gossip.  There is very little serious policy analysis or contextual reporting.  I think you can find the best and worst of all these traits on the blogosphere.

Tim Montgomerie

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