What the flakka?

There’s a new drug causing “panic” and “hysteria” on the streets of Durban and it has made its way to our sunny shores all the way from Australia and the U.S.A..

How kind of you – IOL knows what all the fuss is about:

Known as “flakka” or the “zombie drug”, it is a hallucinogenic drug that causes panic and hysteria. Hundreds of videos have surfaced on social media showing users in a state of panic, unable to talk or understand what is going on around them.

They are unresponsive and pose a danger to themselves and others.

True that – watch this awfully disturbing video to see what it looks like when someone takes the drug:

Shocking.

There’s intel that flakka – which means “skinny” in Spanish and is also known as “gravel” due to its look and feel – is also being moved in Wentworth, Pinetown and Chatsworth where three men have been taken to hospital after using it.

Offered some “gravel” at a party, “one of the men attacked a woman, biting off a chunk of her arm”:

Another is reported to have suffered heart failure, with his heartbeat returning a short while later.

Yoh. Does anybody have a straitjacket for these fellas?

Once the men were able to communicate again, they told police where to find the dealer:

It is believed that an undercover agent then went to the house and made a purchase. A suspected dealer, 32-year-old Chikudipidia Steven Nwose, was arrested.

Don’t speak to this guy on a street corner:

He was allegedly found with 10 bags of flakka, 10 bags of ecstasy, a cellphone and R1 600 cash. He has since appeared in court and was remanded pending his next appearance.

Anti-Drug Forum’s Sam Pillay is not impressed and rightfully so:

“This drug has caused so much damage in other parts of the world and now it is here. These users had almost demonic-like behaviour and it took about six men to restrain just one person. This drug has been called the ‘gateway to hell’ because of the actions of the user. It is like they have superhuman strength.”

Flakka can be taken in tablet form or snorted and goes for between R400 and R1 000.

How’s it made? Well:

It is a synthetic stimulant made from cathinone – an amphetamine-like drug found in bath salts. Cathinone has been banned and the drug-makers are using a similar substance called alpha-PVP instead.

No coincidence then that Dr Lana Wilkinson thinks flakka is a highly addictive stimulant:

“It is associated with many adverse side-effects such as heart palpitations, increased blood pressure and neurological manifestations like paranoia, psychosis, agitation and super-human strength. Long-term side effects are renal failure and depression.”

Last year the U.S. experienced a flakka-related incident where a teenager stabbed a couple to death before eating the man’s face. It took four policemen to apprehend the 19-year-old.

Please, please, please stay in school.

[source:iol]