Has the New Cocaine Arrived?

# Summary 3-MMC, a synthetic cathinone drug created by Israeli chemist "Dr. Zee," has become increasingly popular on dance floors across America and Europe because it offers a longer-lasting, cheaper, and smoother alternative to cocaine and ecstasy, with effects users describe as functional and discreet enough to use during work hours. The drug remains popular despite being regulated in the EU since 2022 and the U.S. since 2023, partly because synthetic drugs emerge faster than regulators can ban them and are cheaper to produce than traditional party drugs. Dr. Zee, credited as the "godfather of legal highs," developed 3-MMC after creating earlier synthetic cathinones based on khat, a traditional stimulant plant used for centuries in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.