“Flakka”: one of the most bizarre drugs yet

South Florida has recently seen a number of cases associated (at least by history) by exposure to a street drug called “Flakka”: In Lake Worth, a naked man brandishing a handgun stood on the roof of an apartment building, shouting “I feel delusional, and I’m hallucinating.” In Fort Lauderdale, a man tried to kick in the door of the local police station because he thought he was being chased by automobile seeking to do him harm. And 2 weeks ago, also in Fort Lauderdale, a man impaled himself on a spiked fence around a police station apparently in thrall to a paranoid delusion: It is no wonder that “flakka” is also called “$5 insanity.” Although I am not aware of reports specifically analyzing samples of the drug, it appears that it frequently contains the synthetic cathinone alpha-PVP, which has appeared in other parts of the country where it is called “gravel.” As always, it is important to note that anyone who uses a drug called “flakka” (or “Molly” or “Gravel” or . . . .) has no real idea of what it contains, or in what dose. To read my Emergency Medicine News column on alpha-PVP, click here. To read Time magazines coverage of this story, click here. Related posts: Death after injecting alpha-PVP The science of alpha-PVP, a second-generation bath salt
Source: The Poison Review - Category: Toxicology Authors: Tags: Medical alpha-PVP bath salts flakka gravel Source Type: news