"Flakka" new drug that causes super strength, hallucinations, insanity... and it's legal

By Lucio R. for Borderland Beat

Flaka: Spanish urban dictionary says; Word for skinny.  Not to be confused with...

Flakka: Designer drug increasing in use by 800% in the last year

You may have not heard of the drug, or much about it, but it is flooding the drug markets of states such as Florida, Texas and Ohio.

It is attractive to the drug user chasing something “new” for the next high, for several reasons; for starters it is cheap (5 dollars) and because it is relatively new, its chemical components are yet to be banned.   

So for now, it is technically  legal.  In fact, there is zero information about the drug, on the U.S. Government NIH Drug abuse website.

It is versatile; the drug can be swallowed, injected, snorted or discreetly tucked away in an electronic cigarette or vape, 

Flakka has the appearance of crystal pebbles.  In addition to the name Flakka it is also known as “gravel”.  The majority of its production,  along with its predecessor “Bath Salts”, is produced in China.

Now the down side for you tempted to have a crack at it.  It is highly addictive dangerous hallucinogenic.  Its high initially is one of tremendous energy, like meth, paranoia sets in, hallucinations and on occasion,  super human strength.

Jim Hall an epidemiologist at the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use, explained to Medical Daily; "We're starting to see a rash of cases of a syndrome referred to as excited delirium.

This is where the body goes into hyperthermia, generally a temperature of 105 degrees. The individual becomes psychotic. They often rip off their clothes and run out into the street violently and have an adrenaline-like strength, and police are called and it takes four or five officers to restrain them. Then, once they are restrained, if they don't receive immediate medical attention they can die."

There has been at least 136  known deaths resulting from the use of this drug in the past 18 months.

It is called a guinea pig drug, because the effects of its use is unpredictable, even the same user can have wide variables after using the drug, having a completely different result from one use to the other.  Its effects can last as little as a couple of hours, to as long as several days.

Flakka is in the same chemical class as the drug “Bath Salts”.  The difference between flakka and bath salts is they're based on different compounds, and the one in flakka isn't illegal.  Flakka is made from alpha-PVP, (cathinone).

 Bath salts are made from MDPV, a cathinone derivative that's now banned.

Cathinone:  (above photo) The khat (pronounced cot) plant has been chewed on in the horn of Africa for thousands of years.  Typically chewed much like chewing tobacco and stored in the cheek to slowly release its chemicals.  The primary chemicals of the plant is cathinone and cathine, these are similar to amphetamine in structure.

Flakka has made headlines more for the psychosis and bizarre behavior post usage of the drug.

You may have seen the story of James West, who after consuming Flakka, thought it was important to break down the glass entry doors of the Ft Lauderdale police department.

Video footage depicted the man going nuts on the door. Pounding it with every part of his body, including his head.  He picked up large rocks to help his effort, to no avail.  He may have had the “superhuman strength” as police reported, but he was outmatched by the hurricane resistant doors. 

West said people were chasing him in cars and he wanted to enter the building for safety.

The video below  and next story is from TomoNews from March 26^th :

A Florida man is lucky to be alive after impaling himself on a spiked fence after trying a new drug called "flakka." Officers standing outside the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department in Florida Sunday night said a man approached them and strangely said he thought there might be a warrant out for his arrest.

As cops were checking out the man's tale, he suddenly made a run for a spiked security fence that encircles the station parking lot. Surprised officers barely had time to react when the man, who later told cops he had just smoked a new street drug said to be a mix of meth, coke, heroin and other assorted chemicals, attempted to jump over the spiked fence. He failed — quite spectacularly.

The man, identified as Shanard Neely, didn't make it over the fence, but he did make it into the fence. He was impaled by a spike which went through his crotch and out the back of his leg. A quick thinking cop used his handcuffs to bolt the automated fence shut, or the dude might have been ripped apart.

Thankfully for Neely, a fire engine crew had just refilled their truck and were able to begin rescue attempts quickly, but Neely dangled on the fence for over 20 min while rescuers used a circular saw to cut through the metal. He survived and was taken to hospital with the spike still in his body.

And lastly:

From Hip Hop Wired, once again the scene is in Ft. Lauderdale

Florida, the state that keeps giving us the best in “WTF” news, is back on the map because of a drug called “flakka.” A naked 34-year-old Fort Lauderdale man was stopped by police last Saturday (April 4), apparently high off the synthetic drug.  

Local news outlet WSVN-TV broke the report of Matthew Kenney and his erratic behavior after using flakka which led him to run through streets with just his sneakers on. Witnesses caught Kenney on cell phone video before he ran by a pair of police vehicles.

The Fort Lauderdale resident, later told officers he had just smoked flakka moments before streaking. He told police he was running from people who trying to kill him. “He was in fear that individuals were chasing him, (and) that they had stolen his clothes,” said Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Tracy Figone.

According to the arrest report, Kenney said he wanted a car to hit him, telling officers, “Because if I got hit by a car they would stop chasing me.” “He thought it would be better to be struck by a vehicle than to have these individuals catch him,” said Figone.