What is Flakka? 'Excited Delirium' Drug Ingredients, Side Effects & More!

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A new drug has emerged in Florida, which is considered dangerous on several levels. "Flakka" not only affects the physical, but the mental states of its users as well.  

The crystalline rock-like drug is extremely cheap and can be used in several ways. According to Dispatch Times, Flakka, also known as "Gravel," can cost as low as $5 a pop.  

"The cost is what really alarmed us... a lot more people can get their hands on it, and that's always a problem. We worked with the [Broward Sheriff's Office] crime lab to identify it as quickly as possible," Sgt. Nick Coffin from Fort Lauderdale Police, explained.

The drug can be swallowed, inhaled, snorted, and smoked. The Daily Times Gazette adds that some users vape the drug through an e-cigarette, effectively concealing the use Flakka.

Flakka is produced from a compound known as alpha-PVP. "It is synthetically derived and made from an amphetamine-like derivative of a drug, the cathinone" and which can be found in the khat plant, states the Daily Times Gazette. Chewing on the plant's leaves can cause a person to get high. 

Flakka users exhibit a behavior called, "excited delirium." Jim Hall, an epidemiologist at the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities, explains this state where "the body goes into hyperthermia, generally a temperature of 105 degrees. The individual becomes psychotic," notes Dispatch Times.

Referring to an incident in which a man experienced "excited delirium," Hall reveals "...they rip off their clothes and run out into the street violently and have an adrenaline-like strength and police are called and it takes four or five officers to restrain them. Then once they are restrained, if they don't receive immediate medical attention they can die." 

The vice president of the Broward Addiction Recovery Center advisory board also explains, as noted by Dispatch Times, "They can't think straight, they're paranoid, they think people are chasing the. One guy thought he was surrounded by German Shepherds that were attacking him."  

To date, the Daily Times Gazette notes that the drug has already made its way out of Florida and into Texas and Ohio. Notably, the drug has not yet been banned by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations.

The DEA has revealed that the number of Flakka cases has been steadily increasing since 2012, reports The Silver Ink. Flakka seems to have emerged around 2012, when the DEA identified over 85 cases related to the drug, states the Daily Times Gazette. As of 2014, 670 cases of the drug were found.