COCAINE-STIMULUS GENERALIZATION TO 2 NEW DESIGNER DRUGS - METHCATHINONE AND 4-METHYLAMINOREX

Rats were trained to discriminate 8 mg/kg cocaine from saline vehicle for the purpose of examining the stimulus properties of two novel and structurally related drugs of abuse recently confiscated on the illici t market: (+/-)methcathinone and cis(+/-)4-methylaminorex. The stimulu s properties of these controlled substance analogs were compared with those of their parent compounds (+/-)cathinone and aminorex, respectiv ely. All agents resulted in cocaine-stimulus generalization with the f ollowing rank order of potency: aminorex (ED50 value = 0.8 muM/kg) > m ethcathinone (1.9 muM/kg) > cathinone (3.7 muM/kg) > 4-methylaminorex (5.2 muM/kg) > cocaine (7.6 muM/kg).