A report for BBC Five Live has found that mephedrone is still freely available with some people able to buy it over the internet one year after it was banned. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12389321
Is this really so surprising? The majority of the suppliers are the drug dealers already trading in other illegal drugs but a bit of hunting around on forums can apparently allow you access to buy it online. This is not the fault of the internet, which many of these investigations seem to forget, it is only the market place and it is upto the authorities to police it better. There are many unsavoury things potentially at the end of a mouse click but actual criminal activity is generally hidden away, although foreign websites can add to the problem. Yet again with the latter, if a product is being sold legally in one country to another where it is banned then it still needs importing where it can be withheld if the authorities are aware of  the transaction.
   Underlying all this is that the knee jerk reaction to ban this chemical before all the test data on it has proved ineffective. Those who wish to take it can still access it but now it is likely to be more harmful as it gets cut with anything by the dealers. Some people would have been put off from using it but they have probably moved onto the next compound that will be marketed as a legal high until legislation catches up with that as well. Others may well have been attracted by something that they were initially wary of using until it was given Class B status when they may have thought that bracketing it with cannabis might mean it wasn't that dangerous after all.
   There are no easy solutions to drug policy but to say everything is dangerous don't touch will never work as long as people continue to take them and personally enjoy them without a bad experience. Labelling new compounds as drugs raises awareness and those so inclined will be curious to experience this new high. Perhaps if they were called poisons people would think twice but then as long as they are prepared to lick toads, smoke banana peel or whatever urban myths are doing the rounds at the time then probably not. The tragic cases of people dying when using drugs are relatively rare and users no this. They know heroin is dangerous and cannabis is comparatively safe and choose what they feel comfortable with for social purposes. Telling them that all drugs are bad gets no where as they won't change their lifestyle but a proper debate as to where these new chemicals fit in the scheme would be far more helpful than simply banning them with flimsy evidence.