Melbourne, November 15 A new drug called Mephedrone or MM-Cat, which is said to be "a cross between cocaine and ecstasy," is being sold through the web, it has emerged.

The authorities fighting narcotics are stressed that the use of the drug, being promoted through communities and groups on social networking sites like Facebook, can rapidly spread among students.

NSW Police has said that they are "aware of mephedrone" and are trying to curb its use, insisting that it is a derivative of methcathinone.

However, there is difference of opinion over its legality among users and experts, including the federal health department.

The drug is officially banned in Norway, Finland, Denmark, Israel and Sweden.

But in Britain, which is the main exporter of the drug, it is still legal.

"Dealers often advertise this drug as being like ecstasy but its properties are much more similar to cocaine and amphetamines," News.com.au quoted Professor Iain McGregor, director of Sydney University's Psychopharmacology Laboratory, as saying.

He added: "Users get feelings of euphoria, it's dancey, it's happy, a bit trippy.

"Unfortunately for people like myself who are here to tell people drugs are bad, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot that is bad about it."

The drug derived from the khat plant is priced at 6300 dollars for 1000g and is available at 40 different international websites, most of which are based in the UK. (ANI)