Flakka, a new synthetic drug that’s been called “$5 insanity,” is causing users to have delusions and develop an almost superhuman strength.
Flakka use has been sweeping through Florida in recent months, although it’s also showing up in other parts of the country,
particularly Texas and Ohio, Forbes reported.
Officials are warning that the drug is highly addictive; it comes in a rock form, sometimes called “gravel,” which can be swallowed, snorted, injected, or even put an e-cigarette.
"Longtime addicts who have
tried flakka, they're terrified of it," treatment counselor Don Maines told the Sun-Sentinel. "They can't think straight, they're paranoid, they think people are chasing them. One guy thought he was surrounded by German shepherds that were attacking him."
Police are quick to point to examples of flakka users who have run naked through the streets, and one man attacked a police station door with intensity, throwing rocks to break the hurricane-proof glass.
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“A Florida man running for his life through the streets of Fort Lauderdale — naked, except for a pair of sneakers — is symbolic of the
latest drug craze striking dread in law enforcement,” the New York Daily News said.
The man, Matthew Kenney, 34, told police that he thought people were chasing him and that they took his clothes.
Forbes reported that flakka presents new dangers for users, more so even than molly or ecstasy, which contain the psychedelic MDMA.
“The reason lies behind the mechanism of the drug as a re-uptake inhibitor of dopamine and norepinephrine — important chemicals for nerve transmission — leading to a more prolonged effect, typically referred to as ‘excited delirium,’” Forbes wrote.
Flakka blocks the mechanism that absorbs those chemicals, making long and concentrated effects of dopamine and serotonin. The health problems can be significant in this situation, Forbes said, including rapidly raising body temperature to even 105 or 106 degrees Farenheit, which can cause kidney damage and other issues.
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