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4‐Methyl‐5‐(4‐methylphenyl)‐4,5‐dihydrooxazol‐2‐amine (4,4′‐DMAR, 4,4′‐dimethylaminorex): availability, prevalence of use, desired effects and acute toxicity
Author(s) -
Glanville James,
Dargan Paul I.,
Wood David M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.2472
Subject(s) - euphoriant , psychoactive substance , methamphetamine , mephedrone , toxicology , medicine , drug , pharmacology , psychology , psychiatry , biology
Objective 4‐Methyl‐5‐(4‐methylphenyl)‐4,5‐dihydrooxazol‐2‐amine (4,4′‐dimethylaminorex (4,4′‐DMAR)) is a derivative of the controlled substances aminorex and 4‐methylaminorex marketed as a potential novel psychoactive substance. This paper brings together the published scientific and ‘grey’ literature to understand 4,4′‐DMAR as a novel psychoactive substance. Methods Searches of the published scientific and ‘grey’ literature, using the keywords ‘4‐methyl‐euphoria’, ‘4‐methyl‐U4Euh’, ‘4‐M‐4‐MAR’, ‘4,4‐dimethylaminorex’, ‘4,4′‐DMAR’, ‘para‐methyl‐4‐aminorex’ and ‘Serotoni’, were undertaken to identify information on the availability, prevalence of use and desired/unwanted effects of 4,4′‐DMAR. Results No studies have reported the prevalence of use of 4,4′‐DMAR. Internet snapshot studies in April and May 2014 showed availability of 4,4′‐DMAR from one and two Internet suppliers respectively. Price decreased with increasing purchase amounts from €12/g for a 1‐g purchase to €2.20/g for a 100‐g purchase in April 2014. Internet discussion fora suggest that the desired and unwanted effects of 4,4′‐DMAR are similar to those seen with other sympathomimetic drugs such as 3,4‐methylenedioxy‐methamphetamine and mephedrone, although the duration of unwanted effects and ‘comedown’ appear to be longer. Unwanted effects were reported at doses of 5–200 mg, which overlaps with the reported doses (10–200 mg) associated with desired effects. 4,4′‐DMAR has been detected, along with other drugs, in 27 deaths in Europe; the contribution of the 4,4′‐DMAR in these deaths has not been established. Conclusions Currently, there appears to limited availability of 4,4′‐DMAR; therefore, use is likely to be low. Its desired and unwanted effects appear similar to other sympathomimetic recreational drugs such as methylenedioxy‐methamphetamine or mephedrone. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.