New drug sweeping the streets of… where else?… Florida. It’s called Flaaka and users say it’s “STRONGER THAN CRYSTAL METH” (greeeeeat) and can be “injected, snorted, smoked, swallowed or taken with other substances like marijuana.” It’s usually made from the chemical alpha-PV which is the synthetic version of the stimulant cathinone, the same type of chemical that is used to make bath salts (again: greeeeeeeat).
According to the Daily Mail:
Flakka resembles a mix of crack cocaine and meth and it has a noticeably foul smell, WPBF 25 News reported. St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office special investigations Sgt. Rob Pettit said: ‘It has a strong odor like a sweaty sock. It’s pretty serious. We’re always trying to play catchup with the drug dealers as it is, and now here we are trying to get accustomed to finding yet another drug.’
Once ingested, the drug causes a feeling of euphoria, hallucinations and sometimes psychosis or apparent superhuman strength. The high lasts for a couple hours and users are left with a strong desire to use again.
During the high, users often experience something called “Excited Delerium” 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.”
So… Florida is about to be overrun with psychotic, superhuman drug addicts who smell like sweaty socks. This ought to be interesting.