Thus, this “cannibal” incident did not involve the drug, as was widely believed. But whether or not the flakka epidemic is indeed over, the damage, in every sense, is done. Along with a few cases reported in Ohio, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, and several others, in the U.S. flakka saw a whopping 780 percent increase in cases alcohol use disorder between 2012 and 2014. The following month, a man named James West attempted to kick in the hurricane-proof glass doors of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department headquarters because he feared that 25 cars were chasing him down the road. The next month, another man impaled himself on the spiked fence of that very same police building.
However, what a lot of young people don’t know is that they have been using Flakka or other “bath salts,” or both, without knowing it, as these drugs are common adulterants, in “Molly” – the newest street name for ecstasy/MDMA. But nightmares and medication might be the least of a user’s worries. The flakka drug is highly addictive, and with repeated use comes the risk of devastating longer-term consequences including depression, insomnia, paranoia, kidney failure, heart failure, and death. Authorities took samples of Harrouff’s hair, DNA, and blood, and sent them to the F.B.I. for drug testing.
The designer drug flakka comes in crystal form, and it is typically pink or white. The synthetic drug may be eaten, injected, snorted, or vaporized in e-cigarettes. This method of ingestion can make it particularly easy to overdose on flakka. The belief that Flakka or other “bath salt” use can turn you into a zombie or cannibal appears to have been a somewhat effective deterrent against use.
Signs of Drug Use in Teens
When vaporized, alpha-PVP quickly enters the bloodstream, and its effects are felt more rapidly. When someone is addicted to flakka, they can experience withdrawal symptoms without it. As cathinones are hydrophobic molecules, they can cross cell membranes and the blood-brain barrier. This allows them to interact with the monoamine transporters in the synaptic cleft between neurons.
- This inhibition causes an increase in the hormones that elevate mood.
- Cathinones are man-made, or synthetic drugs containing cathinone, a naturally occurring stimulant found in the khat plant.
- Thus, this “cannibal” incident did not involve the drug, as was widely believed.
But media outlet after media outlet immediately suspected that the culprit was a drug called flakka. “We’re starting to see a rash of cases of a syndrome referred to as excited delirium,” said Hall. Many street dealers sell cocaine or crystal meth laced with flakka. But mixing flakka with other drugs can exacerbate its effects and lead to overdose or death. From 2013 to 2015, flakka use became an epidemic in poor neighborhoods in South Florida.
What are the complications of Flakka use?
By the time the police reached the scene at about 11 p.m., they found Stevens and Mishcon stabbed to death and Harrouff aggressively gnawing at the former’s face. Hall says the drug is designed to cause the brain to flood with dopamine, a hormone that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers, and then block the transmitters, producing an intense feeling of euphoria. “Normally when dopamine would be released, even naturally or even with other drugs, it then gets reuptaked — it goes back to its original transmitting neuron,” said Hall. The stimulant can even produce psychological problems in those with no history of mental illness. A 2016 study published in the journal Case Reports in Psychiatry indicated that a teen girl with no past psychiatric diagnosis experienced psychotic episodes after taking flakka. They last between two and five hours, which is similar to the duration of the effects of effects of bath salts.
Fort Lauderdale PoliceMatthew Kenny, who ran naked through a central Florida town due to the effects of flakka. U.S. Department of Homeland SecurityBecause the effects of flakka are so potent, between September 2014 and December 2015, 63 people died from overdoses. Drug Enforcement AdministrationThe effects of flakka are so gruesome that the U.S. put a ban on 116 different Chinese substances used to make it. Hall added that there have been recent reports of a designer drug marketed as flakka in Ohio and Houston as well as Florida.
The problems with flakka started to become noticeable in West Flanders last year. The drug is being peddled in the town of Roeselare and several other localities. Last year police in Woumen (West Flanders) had to overpower a man who alcohol use disorder and timeline of alcohol withdrawal symptoms was half-naked and completely out of control. In September, a 32-year-old man killed a cyclist in Diksmuide; he was under the influence of the zombie drug. Designer drug ‘flakka’ is giving greater and greater cause for concern.
This is likely a result of the zombie/cannibal label, as perception of harm often leads to less use. The zombie/cannibal label phenomenon began in Miami on May 26, 2012 when Rudy Eugene – naked and thought to be high on “bath salts” – chewed the face and eyeball off of a homeless man. The attacker was killed by police, and the homeless man was left disfigured and blind. Many attribute the fall in flakka deaths to a ban that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration put on it in March 2014. Though dealers could still get reliable, cheap flakka from China, the country promptly banned 116 synthetic substances including the flakka drug following immense pressure from the U.S. MDMA, known widely as Molly, has been the cause of a number of fatalities and the recent round of overdoses that hospitalized a dozen people at Wesleyan University.
What are the symptoms of Flakka abuse?
First, potential users – especially experienced drug users – may disregard our warnings. Second, exaggerating dangerous effects usually leads to increased stigma toward those who use or happen to be dependent on the drug. This usually leads only to further ostracization and a lower likelihood of seeking treatment.
Sometimes the effects of flakka can linger for weeks after it has been ingested. But “scary” should be based on truthful information about potentially harmful drugs. If we continue to exaggerate adverse effects, then this can work against our prevention efforts in two ways.
As of 2019, the drug had caused several deaths across Ohio and Utah, and 1 percent of American teens admitted they had tried it. However, the total number of 2014 cases nationwide was still “only” 670. Luckily, Broward County hospital admissions for flakka went from 306 in October to 54 in December, and stayed down, with no flakka-related deaths occurring over the first third of 2016.
“When we first heard the word we thought it was referring to the fact that it’s a strong stimulant, almost all stimulants have an appetite depressant quality to them, an almost anorexic quality.” Cathinone use can also cause rhabdomyolysis, which is a melting of the muscle tissue and the release of muscle fibers drug addiction blog and resources into the blood stream. This can lead to kidney failure and result in a user needing permanent dialysis. Individuals with Flakka overdose were isolated to a few geographic regions of the country. The epicenter of the Flakka epidemic was Broward County, Florida, which includes the city of Fort Lauderdale.
Little information is known about flakka outside what is reported from users. Like other stimulants of this type, flakka can cause excited delirium, otherwise known as agitated delirium. This condition occurs when there’s an excessive influx of sympathetic activation. The euphoric high from flakka abuse can last from hours to days, depending on the dosage.
