Scientific Research 101: Meow-Meow, "plant food", 4-MMC, mephedrone…

sourceI recently introduced a paper on the discriminative stimulus properties of cathinone analog drugs with reference to the recent emergence in the popular media of an analog called 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC), mephedrone (2-methylamino-1-p-tolylpropan-1-one), Meow-Meow, MMCAT. The name “plant food” is what 4-MMC is apparently being marketed under in the UK, given that the compound itself is not controlled but it is illegal (I surmise) to sell things as “legal ecstasy” or “legal methamphetamine” or similar. There has been one fatality attributed* to 4-MMC that I can find and a few bits of seized-drug analysis confirming that the stuff is indeed being used.
An early report of a fatality associated with consumption of the drug in Sweden resulted in placement of mephedrone on the controlled list. The followup in the Swedish press shows that the woman was reported to have consumed mephedrone (confirmed post-mortem) and smoked cannabis (no apparent confirmation; alcohol and other narcotics excluded postmortem) and then collapsed. Emergency services were unable to revive her and she died a day and a half later; symptoms of brain swelling, stroke, hyponatremia and hypokalemia were mentioned, as well as a low body temperature of 33 degrees C.
The story has heated up recently in the UK press after the death of two individuals who are, at present, suspected of taking 4-MMC/mephedrone, reportedly in combination with methadone (an opiate) and alcohol. As I mentioned before, a quick scan of PubMed finds little reported on the effects of this compound in animal models or in humans.
So the question is, scientists, what next?
Let’s play virtual science, shall we?