What Is Flakka? Here’s What the Designer Drug Is Made of and Its Effects

There has been a dramatic increase in the use of cathinones [17,18]. The U.K. National Poisons Information Service has collected telephone reports on the toxicity of mephedrone and other cathinone-related recreational drugs used in the UK. Before 2009, there had been no reports about these compounds in Great Britain. Between 2009 and 2010, there were 188 telephone reports related to cathinone, and most of them (157 calls) were related to mephedrone. Nevertheless, after 2010, the number of calls related to cathinone was equal to that of both MDMA (“Ecstasy”) and cocaine.

Effects of Flakka

It is common to hear reports that it takes multiple people to restrain and sedate these patients. Rescue crews and emergency department staff need to give sedatives to these patients to calm them and make them safe. Each time one type of bath salt is made illegal, the drug labs change the chemical structure slightly and a new drug that is technically not illegal is created. In the case of Flakka, the new chemical is called alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone or alpha-PVP. Drug users take Flakka to get a feeling of euphoria, a heightened sense of awareness, stimulation, and energy.

‘Devil’s Drug’: Flakka Is Driving Florida Insane

1. This case is the latest in an epidemic of crimes, incidents and even deaths seemingly related to flakka.
2. It’s a combination of several harmful chemicals including codeine, iodine, gasoline, paint thinner, lighter fluid and others.
3. Flakka is one of a number of cathinone-based drugs that are produced in China and sold online to small-time drug gangs in the U.S.
4. Agitated patients can go into a state called “excited delirium,” which is a medical emergency.

The speed at which new psychoactive drugs appear is alarming. New structures have new properties and thus create unique behavioral characteristics during intoxication. It can be assumed that the tendency towards the use of new drugs will grow and that there will be an increasing number of cases in clinical practice. Doctors have to take this into consideration in order to provide appropriate treatments and minimize undesirable damage. Improper use of PEA derivatives or synthetic cathinone can be very dangerous [4]. Their use sometimes causes severe poisoning and considerably affects human health.

Understand the risks

Behavioral therapy can treat addiction to synthetic cathinones like flakka. Examples of behavioral therapy include cognitive-behavioral therapy, contingency management and motivational incentives. Hall says designer drugs like flakka are not always pure, which means that frequently the customer and dealer don’t actually know what’s in the product. Hall says that in 2013 there were a total of 126 reported deaths tied to synthetic cathinone in Florida. One of the newer chemicals in the booming category of synthetic or designer drugs, Flakka is typically made from a synthetic version of an amphetamine-like stimulant in the cathinone class called alpha-PVP.

Is Flakka Addictive?

But it may be tough to keep the drug at bay for long because it’s also extraordinarily profitable. Fort Lauderdale PoliceMatthew Kenny, who ran naked through a central Florida town due to the effects of flakka. The case of Austin Harrouff is almost certainly the most tragic of all the flakka drug stories, yet it’s hardly the most bizarre. Over the past several years, dozens of cases have made headlines and helped make the flakka drug as feared as it is today. Brevard County SheriffKenneth Crowder attempted to have sex with a tree while under the effects of flakka. There, authorities like the World Health Organization estimate that each day, more than 10 million people take advantage of the “state of euphoria and elation with feelings of increased alertness and arousal” that the drug causes.

Currently, α-PVP is a strictly controlled substance, and its use has been banned in the United States and other countries/regions around the world. In March 2014 [77], the DEA temporarily included 10 types of synthetic cathinones, such as α-PVP, in the Schedules of Controlled Substances, and they extended this control period in March 2016 [78]. In the final rules promulgated by DEA in March 2017 [79], α-PVP was listed as a Schedule I drug.

There is increasing evidence that α-PVP has a cocaine-like stimulating effect. In fact, it is more effective than common psychostimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine [48,49]. The results showed that α-PVP was in the same class and that α-PVP had the strongest selectivity for DAT and the lowest selectivity for SERT among the above-mentioned similar drugs. Collins and coworkers [49] used four adult male rhesus monkeys to study the self-administration johns hopkins scientists give psychedelics the serious treatment of MDPV and α-PVP and directly compared the results with the effects of cocaine and methamphetamine. The results verified that synthetic cathinone MDPV and α-PVP could maintain a high level of response for an extended time and that they were more effective than cocaine or methamphetamine. Similarly, Schindler et al. [54] investigated the neurochemical, behavioral, and cardiovascular effects of racemic α-PVP and its enantiomers in male rats.

These bizarre, dangerous, and violent behaviors are directly due to the side effects of the street drug Flakka. 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.

Cathinones are chemicals derived from the khat plant originating in the Middle East and Somalia—where the leaves are frequently chewed for a euphoric buzz. First, 1-phenyl1-pentanone 8 best detox alcohol and drug rehabilitation centers in california is formed from the reaction of valeronitrile with phenylmagnesium bromide, with a subsequent acidic workup. It is then brominated to create the corresponding α-bromo ketone.

The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Evaluation by qualified addiction treatment professionals will assure that proper detox measures, as well as the most effective treatment design, are applied to each individual situation. Treatment for Flakka addiction includes a number of steps that are beneficial in streamlining the recovery process. The following video brings attention to the serious dangers of Flakka use, even for first-time users.

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. The effects of the comedown from Flakka (the period when the drug leaves the body) include fatigue and depression. Synthetic cathinones are also labeled as ‘not for human consumption.’ These labels help hide the real reason for the fentanyl laced weed product’s existence, so the drugs distribute easily. While there are no FDA-approved medications for addiction to flakka, there are medicines available for co-occurring mental health conditions. 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.

Synthetic drugs known as bath salts are from the synthetic cathinone class of drugs, like flakka. They mimic the stimulant effects similar to those resulting from illegal drugs. These include cocaine, methamphetamine (crystal meth), and MDMA (molly or ecstasy).

“We’re referring to these as the guinea pig drugs. Often the dealer might not even know what they’re selling.” “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.” But whether or not the flakka epidemic is indeed over, the damage, in every sense, is done.

Moreover, even if some enterprising American dealers don’t find another overseas flakka source, another drug will soon take its place. Just like that, it seemed the effects of the flakka epidemic had swiftly ended. And some of the more appalling flakka incidents are just as tragic as all those physiological and psychological effects suggest.