New Street Drug Flakka Hits Florida, Ohio & Texas

A new upper street drug called flakka is hitting some of the states such as Florida, Ohio and Texas. Also called gravel since it resembles colourful gravel pebbles on aquarium bottoms, the drug could be snorted, smoked, injected or swallowed.

There have been recent arrests of people said to be high on flakka who shown behavioural problems, which in one instance proved to be fatal, reports Business Insider.

Last week, police apprehended a naked man on flakka. He was on an intersection attempting to escape people whom he imagined were running after him. In February, another flakka user was seen on surveillance camera kicking the door of the Fort Lauderdale police station in Florida. In March, found impaled on a metal fence, also in Fort Lauderdale, was a man who allegedly used the new street drug.

Dr Stephen Dewey, an addiction specialist, explains, “They become so aggressive and when they think they’re superhuman they act on it,” quotes CBS.

Such behaviours were similar to a few years ago when the street drugs called bath salts was introduced. It is made from alpha-PVP, a compound that is the chemical cousin of cathinone, a drug found in bath salts that is like amphetamine.

The bigger problem for law enforcers is that it is legal in any state because what was banned in 2011 was the active ingredient in bath salts, not its chemical cousin, the alpha-PVP.

Those who take it experience feelings of euphoria, enhanced alertness, wakefulness and increased movement. It is similar to other upper drugs such as cocaine or amphetamines. The feelings come from two chemical in flakka – dopamine and norepinephrine.

Dopamine is the feel-good chemical, while norepinephrine boosts heart rate and blood pressure, which makes people more alert. Once it wears off, the user experiences feeling tired or depressed and makes him want to ingest more. However, users often need larger doses in the future to achieve the same high.

According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, in the past three years, there was an almost 780 percent rise in reported cases of flakka use from 85 cases in 2012 to 670 in 2014. Part of the reason behind this is its low cost at $5 a pop.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au