Both substances can induce euphoria, heightened sex drive, increased sociability, and hallucinations. When used in excessive amounts, they can lead to severe negative effects, including high blood pressure, elevated heart rate, paranoia, aggression, panic attacks, and psychosis. Both drugs can be consumed in various ways—such as smoking, injecting, or snorting—and carry a significant risk of overdose and death. Flakka is a man-made drug that is part of a wider class of drugs called synthetic cathinones. Word on the street is that Flakka (also called gravel or flocka) is a combination of heroin and crack, or heroin and methamphetamines, but in reality, Flakka is just a newer-generation version of bath salts. Bath salts, in general, are synthetic psychoactive drugs made in large quantities in foreign drug labs.
Who is at Risk of Using Flakka?
In other terms, it is a new designer drug made from a synthetic amphetamine-like substance marketed as harmless bath salts. Flakka or A-PVP is a synthetic cathinone, a category under which the natural, mild, stimulant khat belong. Chemical-wise, this chemical is a more powerful, next generation bath salts. The United States Code (USC) Controlled Substance Act is the system followed and implemented by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The latest synthetic drug garnering attention is called flakka and it induces paranoia, psychosis and extreme aggression. A standard urine drug test kit does not detect synthetic cathinones found in alpha- pyrrolidinopentiophenone and in other bath salts. However, there are now quantitative testing for primary chemicals such as A-PVP, MDPV, DMAA, Methylone, Mephedrone and Pentedrone.
However, the drug still presents a significant risk to those taking it and those present with someone under the influence. Flakka is named after the Spanish slang for skinny woman – “la flaca.” This is probably because of its appetite flakka drug wikipedia suppressant effects. It comes in the form of white or pink crystals, and can be smoked, vaped with an e-cigarette, injected, snorted or swallowed.
What are the side effects of Flakka?
Since flakka is so new, researchers aren’t sure exactly how it affects the brain, or how addictive it is. At that point, emergency responders will try to counteract the effects of the drug in the person’s system by injecting a sedative such as the benzodiazepine Ativan, and if they can’t, the person can die, Hall said. It is strongly recommended that one use harm reduction practices when using this substance. The toxicity and long-term health effects of recreational α-PVP use do not appear to have been studied in any scientific context and the exact toxic dosage is unknown. By preventing cells from reabsorbing dopamine and norepinephrine, flakka prolongs the “rush” effect. If you or someone you know is suffering from Flakka dependence or addiction, then contact a treatment provider today to discuss what options are available.
Prescription Drug Abuse: Know The Warning Signs
- In the worst cases, Flakka use can cause kidney failure, heart attacks, and a dangerous spike in body temperature.
- BetterHelp can connect you to an addiction and mental health counselor.
- Though first synthesized in the 1960’s, the use of Flakka in the United States as a recreational drug is fairly recent (2013).
- Usually, as the addiction lengthens, so does the severity of symptoms.
- Flakka is under the umbrella term of “bath salts,” and it and other synthetic cathinones typically have mephedrone, methylone or MDPV in the mixture.
- Smoking, vaping, snorting, injecting or swallowing bath salts can cause immediate overdose and death.
The high addictive potential of flakka and the serious health consequences make the drug extremely dangerous – both for single and repeated use. Flakka is thought to be mostly manufactured in countries like China and Pakistan, but it’s also possible that local laboratories in Florida and other states were producing it. It is not regulated, so there aren’t any restrictions on what ingredients are used to make it and no reputable source to inspect it, which makes it exceedingly dangerous. Sometimes a substance sold as flakka will have completely different ingredients in it as another substance sold under the same name.
How Do You Identify and Address Phenibut Addiction?
Flakka is a synthetic cathinone with effects and a chemical makeup similar to bath salts and CNS stimulants. The adverse side effects of the drug include volatile psychosis, leading it to be dubbed “the zombie drug”. Flakka has a very similar chemical composition to bath salts, and the two have the same effects on users. The active ingredient in bath salts is methylenedioxypyrovalerone, or MDPV, which differs slightly from what flakka contains.
Cocaine Addiction and Abuse
The Chinese government banned flakka and 115 other synthetic drugs as of October 1st – just weeks before the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Bo Peng, one of China’s biggest flakka traffickers. In the United States, flakka is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I drugs are defined as substances with a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. This classification means that it is illegal to manufacture, distribute, or possess flakka.
Some say the name could be a variation of the Spanish slang word “la flaca” which means “skinny girl”. Some say the term is random and quite fittingly describes what a person high on this drug feels. A popular street name for A-PVP is “gravel” as the pink and white crystals look like those placed in fish aquariums. The practice of jump-starting a cycle of Flakka used to counter negative come downs will eventually lead to tolerance to the drug. This will eventually require the user to increase the dosage of the drug to experience the same “high”, thereby exposing the user to overdose, dangerous effects, drug dependence and even death.
This struggle causes a high core body temperature called hyperthermia. The combination of a high body temperature and extreme muscle overactivity can cause other metabolic problems to happen in the body. Muscle tissue begins to break down, releasing proteins and other cellular products into the bloodstream, in a process called rhabdomyolysis.
This compound has been available online as recreational designer drug. In recent news, Flakka was behind a man stabbing and allegedly attempting to eat a Florida couple. This could be a possibility as aside from causing violent behavior, the drug also boosts a user’s physical strength. While many reports are saying this new designer drug is sweeping the state of Florida, the mind-altering substance has also been popping up in a few other states across the country, including Ohio and Texas.
However, as psycho stimulant, this drug can cause paranoia, hyper stimulation and hallucinations. There are news stories indicating the irrational behavior of people high on Flakka. In combinations with other drugs, A-PVP has been linked to overdoses and suicides. It was reported that the drug in combination with pentedrone, caused heart failure that led to death.
Detection in body fluids
On the street, Flakka is called ‘gravel’ because it looks a bit like the white crystalline gravel you get at the bottom of aquariums. Street names of designer cathinones include Ivory Wave, Meow Meow, Snow Leopard, Pure Ivory and White Lightning. Following a growing number of stories around abusers’ crazy antics, Flakka has been dubbed the ‘insanity drug’ and ‘Zombie drug’. Flakka use can cause significant brain damage from experiencing extended periods of delirium.
In the worst cases, Flakka use can cause kidney failure, heart attacks, and a dangerous spike in body temperature. Both Flakka and bath salts are incredibly dangerous when abused, causing harmful side effects, overdose, death, and are addiction-forming. The adverse effects of Flakka abuse, its damaging nature to physical and mental health, and the potential for overdose all make Flakka a highly dangerous drug. Authorities believe Harrouff was high on flakka, a highly addictive designer drug that causes paranoia and psychosis.
