Methcathinone was patented in 1957 by Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals and rejected for production due to negative side effects, which included incoordination, convulsions, trembling, labored respiration, and spasticity in laboratory animals. The formula for its manufacture became known to Russian drug abusers in the 1970's, and it reportedly has been tried by more than half the drug abusers in Russia. In 1989, a student brought it to Michigan, where its production began. The typical user admitted for treatment is an unemployed single white male high school graduate age 32. The prevalence of use is unknown. As of April 1995, laboratories have been seized in Michigan and several States. It is not yet clear whether methcathinone will become the next widespread illicit stimulant epidemic or whether its production and use have been curtailed by public health treatment and prevention efforts, intense surveillance and criminal investigations and prosecutions by law enforcement agencies, and increased Federal and State legal penalties. Tables, figure, and 18 references