Like bath salts, flakka simulates the effects of cocaine and methamphetamine without the price tag. That’s why the designer drug has become so popular among college-age adults – since it’s 10 times more powerful than coke. A standard urine drug test kit does not detect synthetic cathinones found in alpha- pyrrolidinopentiophenone and in other bath salts.

In the worst cases, Flakka use can cause kidney failure, heart attacks, and a dangerous spike in body temperature. Flakka, which is also called gravel in some parts of the country, is the street name for a chemical called alpha-PVP, or alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone. The chemical is a synthetic cathinone, a category that includes the mild natural stimulant khat, which people in Somalia and the Middle East have chewed for centuries. Chemically, Flakka is a next-generation, more powerful version of bath salts.

Is Flakka addictive?

Signs of use include paranoia, hallucinations, violent behavior and self-injury. If you’re concerned your child may be using flakka or other substances, the following can help you address the behavior more effectively. Like cocaine and meth, flakka comes with a comedown, the period when the drug leaves the body and the person is left feeling fatigued or depressed. This sensation often results in users returning to the drug to get rid of the negative comedown feeling, jump-starting a cycle of use that can lead to abuse.

These NPS drugs are generally classified as Schedule I controlled substances with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse and addiction. As alpha-PVP is a stimulant, a state of hyper-stimulation, hallucinations and paranoia that could result in self-injury and violent aggression are possible. This drug has the combined effects of methamphetamine and cocaine without the price tag. Cocaine and methamphetamine have similar modes of action in the brain, but the chemicals in flakka have longer-lasting effects, Hall said. In some of the documented delusions, individuals’ experiences are of a typical paranoia, where the drug users feel they are being chased by a large group of people trying to kill them.

Back in 2010, not a single case of the drug had been reported in the US. About 22 percent of the drug seizures that tested positive for alpha-PVP came from South Florida, according to the data. It comes in different forms and can be eaten, injected, smoked or snorted.

Flakka vs. bath salts

• This struggle causes a high core body temperature called hyperthermia.
• Tolerance to many of the effects of α-PVP develops with prolonged and repeated use.
• These are “people who are already disadvantaged in terms of chronic disease and access to health care,” he added.
• Many flakka users become agitated or panicked, sometimes exhibiting violent outbursts.
• While psychoactive substances like alcohol, opium, and cannabis have been around for thousands of years, many other drugs appearing on the streets in 2021 are far more recent and far less well understood.

The drug takes on the form of a pink or white, nasty-smelling crystal that can be snorted, eaten, injected or even vaporized in an e-cigarette. When vaporized, overdosing on the drug may happen as the drug quickly enters into the bloodstream. Flakka is dose-specific that even a minute amount will give the user his desired effect.

Everything you need to know about the new street drug ‘flakka’

Like bath salts, the substance is packaged in plastic bags or vials and labeled “not for human consumption” or “plant food.” You can buy it online or off the street. Flakka has the tendency to increase a user’s body temperature to 104 degrees Celsius or higher. Spiked temperature can lead to kidney damage or failure which could ultimately lead to death. Flakka also elevates blood pressure which could lead to stroke, heart attack or heart failure, and aneurysm.

Because Flakka is a synthetic, lab-made drug, its effects are unpredictable. On one side of the spectrum, use of the drug can lead to euphoria, dancing, and spastic movements. On the other end, users will experience delusions, hallucinations, seizures, muscle cramps and spasms.

In addition, such agitation may trigger Taser use or other methods that have the potential to harm the individual when law enforcement personnel have to intervene. Flakka is a synthetic cathinone drug chemically similar to bath salts, whose effects mirror that of the stimulant cocaine. It most commonly takes the form of white or pink, foul-smelling crystals that can be eaten, snorted, injected, smoked, or vaporized.

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It is an ongoing challenge, as 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. It is also known as “gravel” due to its white, crystal-like appearance. Flakka is a highly potent drug that can be snorted, injected, eaten, smoked, or vaporized in e-cigarettes. When heated up, it gives off a foul-smelling smoke characterized as smelling like dirty socks.

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However, dopamine depletion or receptor damage can lead to crashes, depression, or psychosis over time. Another serious, potentially lingering side effect of flakka is the effect on kidneys. The drug can cause muscles to break down, as a result of hyperthermia, taking a toll on kidneys. Experts worry that some survivors of flakka overdoses may be on dialysis for the rest of their life.

Bath salts, in general, are psychoactive synthetic drugs (designer drugs) made in large quantities in foreign drug labs. Some brand names of synthetic cathinones include Bliss, Vanilla Sky, Lunar Wave, Cloud Nine, and White Lightning. Flakka is the street name for the synthetic cathinone called alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone (Alpha-PVP). 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.

Like cocaine and methamphetamine, Flakka stimulates the release of feel-good brain chemicals such as dopamine and norepinephrine, Hall said. The drug also prevents neurons, or brain cells, from reabsorbing these brain chemicals, meaning the effects of the drug may linger in the system longer than people anticipate. 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.

Although a typical flakka high can last one to several hours, it is possible that the neurological effects can be permanent. Not only does the drug sit on neurons, it could also destroy them, Hall said. And because flakka, like bath salts, hang around in the brain for longer than cocaine, the extent of the destruction could be greater. This caused people most at risk, poor desperate drug addicts and homeless people, to use it instead of more expensive drugs like cocaine or methamphetamines. Flakka was added to the Schedule I list in 2014 by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

However, there are now quantitative testing for primary chemicals such as A-PVP, MDPV, DMAA, Methylone, Mephedrone and Pentedrone. These urine drug tests are called a bath salt drug test kit or Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) urine drug test. But like “bath salts,” a group of related synthetic drugs that were banned in 2012, flakka has the potential to be much more dangerous than cocaine. High doses deliver a similar high to cocaine or methamphetamine, which can cause paranoid delusions and involuntary muscle jerks. In small doses, Flakka can give users an immediate sense of euphoria, boost confidence, lessen inhibitions and increase libido.

These additives rarely affect the psychoactive strength of the drug but can further complicate health risks. Flakka is a synthetic substance that has earned sensational nicknames like the “zombie drug.” However, there’s a lot more to it regarding its chemistry, effects, and impact on the community. A man in South Florida who broke down the hurricane-proof doors of a police department admitted to being on flakka. A girl in Melbourne, Florida, ran through the street screaming that she was Satan while on a flakka trip.

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 flakka drug wikipedia pentedrone, caused heart failure that led to death. Agitated patients can go into a state called “excited delirium,” which is a medical emergency. In the excited delirium state, restrained patients struggle to free themselves, scream, flail, and can even have seizures.