CAT is becoming one of the most popular synthetic or "designer" drugs in the United States today. About 1.5 times stronger than methamphetamine (the most frequently used synthetic drug in the country), CAT is a synthetic analog of cathinone, a potent, naturally occurring amphetamine found in the khat plant grown primarily in Somalia and Yemen. In the United States, illicit CAT was first produced in 1991 by graduate students in Michigan's upper peninsula. It quickly spread to Ann Arbor and then to neighboring Wisconsin and Illinois. The drug has since been found in 10 States, including Washington and Florida. Over 30 clandestine CAT laboratories have been seized thus far. CAT can easily be made by individuals with little or no background in chemistry from a laboratory set-up that can fit into a cardboard box or car trunk. Although street CAT costs approximately the same as cocaine, it is much cheaper to produce, making it highly profitable. To date, most known CAT producers in the United States have been relatively small-scale operators; however, its enormous profitability, its intense high, and its ease of production are beginning to attract larger scale distributors and criminal organizations as well. As part of the increasing law enforcement response to CAT abuse, methcathinone was permanently placed as a Schedule 1 Narcotic under the Controlled Substance Act in October 1993. Other recently passed legislation will enable the Drug Enforcement Administration to more easily monitor and possibly restrict the distribution of licit ephedrine, from which CAT is made. 1 table and a list of related CAT articles and information contacts