Flakka Drug: What It Is, Effects, and Nicknames

For those unfamiliar with flakka, here’s what you should know about the designer drug, its make-up and what it can do to a person. We also accept private payment methods and accept multiple financing options. If you need FREE help please contact the National Helpline about mental and/or substance use disorders, prevention, treatment, and recovery in English and Spanish. On the other hand, flakka costs $5, whereas one gram of cocaine can approximately cost up to $80, and most Individuals like the homeless, some college students cannot afford cocaine.

The designer drug is still classified by the DEA as a Schedule I Controlled Substance as of May of this year. At least 20 other countries have banned or regulated a-PVP in some way. 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. Flakka is a highly addictive and dangerous drug, otherwise known as alpha-PVP (alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone.) It is an amphetamine-like stimulant that belongs to the cathinone drug class.

Flakka Effects and “High”

It is also inexpensive, and its price is estimated to range between $3 to $5. Ark Behavioral Health offers 100% confidential substance abuse assessment and treatment placement tailored to your individual needs. As with other stimulant drugs, Flakka greatly increases the activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain. This trips the brain’s reward pathway, causing a euphoric high and priming a person to feel cravings to repeat the experience in the future. While terminology varies, and those who purchase illicit drugs can rarely be 100% sure of the product they purchase, Flakka generally refers to Alpha-PVP, a specific synthetic cathinone.

• They will be sure to adjust medications and provide careful monitoring to ensure a safe detoxification.
• Flakka has been linked to several deaths by suicide, as well as heart attacks.
• While terminology varies, and those who purchase illicit drugs can rarely be 100% sure of the product they purchase, Flakka generally refers to Alpha-PVP, a specific synthetic cathinone.
• The drug, which has the street name of Flakka, is a synthetic stimulant that is chemically similar to bath salts.
• After detox, individuals will always benefit from inpatient or residential treatment programs.
• Flakka has the tendency to increase a user’s body temperature to 104 degrees Celsius or higher.
• “I remember having seizures and having just continued paranoia and feeling like people were chasing me and following me and talking about me,” one former user told NBC about her experience.

Flakka (Zombie Drug) vs. Bath Salts

Muscle tissue begins to break down, releasing proteins and other cellular products into the bloodstream, in a process called rhabdomyolysis. The result of the cellular products and proteins released during rhabdomyolysis and dehydration can impair the filtering function of the kidneys, leading to renal failure and death. 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 Effects and Dangers

These instances highlight the profound and often alarming effects that flakka can have on behavior and mental state, emphasizing its dangers to both users and the community at large. Flakka is cheap and highly addictive, two factors that predominantly led to its recent surge. According to one study, users need ten times less the amount of Flakka as they do cocaine in order to get addicted to the drug. Flakka blocks a user’s dopamine and norepinephrine transporter proteins from functioning properly in the brain.

• Various instances of “Man on Flakka” have been captured in videos on news channels and social media platforms such as YouTube.
• “Baths salts” is a term used to refer to synthetic cathinones as a whole, some of which may cause far more intense hyperstimulation than others.
• Because one can buy Flakka for as little as three dollars a dose, the target market is typically young, poor people looking for an easy high.
• In connection, long term effects of this drug are yet to be published.
• Serotonin syndrome requires immediate medical attention and can be fatal if left untreated.
• Hall said that there are about three or four hospitalizations a day in Broward County in South Florida, and more on weekends.

If you or a loved one are struggling with mental health or substance abuse, we can help. While it can be purchased online, it’s unclear if the designer drug has made its way into Canada yet. Health Canada says that cathinone is in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and therefore illegal.

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Although people use flakka to achieve a euphoric high, the drug’s symptoms and side effects can escalate quickly. The euphoric high from flakka abuse can last from hours to days, depending on the dosage. Sometimes the effects of flakka can linger for weeks after it has been ingested. 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 what is flakka drug wikipedia street screaming that she was Satan while on a flakka trip.

The United States Code (USC) Controlled Substance Act is the system followed and implemented by the Drug Enforcement Administration. There are five schedules of controlled substances labeled from 1-V, with the classification based on the pertaining drug’s medical applications, safety, and abuse potential. Users have reported that the drug use of flakka can trigger intense and uncontrollable urges to ingest the drug again. Flakka has been linked to several deaths by suicide, as well as heart attacks. The drug can also raise body temperature dangerously high, leading to kidney damage or failure.

Visual Effects

This results in users having to administer increasingly large doses to achieve the same effects. After that, it takes about days for the tolerance to be reduced to half and weeks to be back at baseline (in the absence of further consumption). Α-PVP produces cross-tolerance with all dopaminergic stimulants, meaning that after the consumption of α-PVP all stimulants will have a reduced effect. Why the low cost means young people are at risk.Since flakka’s cheap, it’s a popular drug among college students, as well as low-income people and the homeless population.