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What Is Flakka and What Does it Do to You?
Palm Beach Post ^ | Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016 | Debbie Lord

Posted on 08/16/2016 9:12:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway

A horrific story out of Florida on Tuesday has shined a spotlight on a “designer drug” whose effects can be so extreme that some call it “the devil’s drug.”

A man in Tequesta, Fla., was arrested and charged with two counts of murder in the stabbing death of couple there. When police arrived on scene, the man was found crouched over the body of a male victim, tearing the flesh from the man’s face with his teeth.

Police say they believe the man was likely under the influence of a drug called αlpha-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone, or as it is more commonly known, flakka.

News of flakka and its South Florida roots has been circulating for a few years, but, recently, there have been several incidents where authorities believe people on the drug have been involved in more bizarre assaults.

So what is flakka and why is law enforcement so concerned about it? Here’s a quick look at the drug and what it does to a person.

What is flakka?

Alpha-PVP, or flakka, is a synthetic stimulant that is, chemically, similar to amphetamines. It has also been compared to a combination of methamphetamines and crack cocaine. It is similar to “bath salts,” another so-called designer drug that gives users extreme highs. (This is not the bath salts you may be putting in your tub)

What does it look like?

Flakka is made up of granules that are either white or pink – thus it also goes by the name “gravel.” It has a foul smell.

What is it made of?

Alpha-PVP is made in China and contains synthetic chemicals that block the molecules that keep dopamine and serotonin – neurotransmitters which help determine mood - balanced in the brain. Flakka allows those neurotransmitters to flood the brain producing a high.

What does it do to you?

Called “$5 insanity” by some, alpha-PVP causes a condition known as “excited delirium.” This produces paranoia, hallucinations, hyperstimulation and, in the extreme, violent actions. It has also been connected to several suicides.

Medically, the drug can lead to a heart attack, kidney damage or kidney failure. It can quickly raise body temperature to dangerous levels.

How do you take it?

Alpha-PVP can be snorted, injected, eaten, or vaporized in an e-cigarette.

What are the possible long-term effects?

The high from flakka can last several hours. The paranoia can last several months. Damage to the kidneys can result in the need for dialysis for the remainder of a user’s life.

How prevalent is it?

According to a story from Forbes, as of last year, the US Drug Enforcement Administration has seen a nearly 780 percent increase in the number of reported cases since 2012.

Is it legal?

Alpha-PVP is a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it is illegal to import, possess or sell. It is banned in Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Turkey, Norway and the Czech Republic.

What have people done while on the drug?

There have been several reports of people doing particularly odd things while under the influence of flakka. In South Florida alone, there have been reports of a man standing naked on a building, holding a gun and threatening others; a man with what police called “superhuman strength" kicking in the hurricane doors at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and a man who repeatedly said he was God then attacked police after twice being Tased.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; Local News
KEYWORDS: bathsalts; drugs; flakka; florida; floriduh; substanceabuse
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To: 1_Inch_Group

Just stay away from Cern videos.


41 posted on 08/17/2016 4:17:04 AM PDT by Gadsden1st
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To: PLMerite

LOL!


42 posted on 08/17/2016 4:25:03 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: nickcarraway; Fiddlstix

Thanks for the post; youtube link.

Stay alert, stay healthy, stay informed, stay rational, stay safe, stay armed. BUMP!


43 posted on 08/17/2016 4:29:29 AM PDT by PGalt
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To: nickcarraway

Sounds great. Dosage needs to be controlled. More Phase I testing. /S


44 posted on 08/17/2016 4:52:59 AM PDT by Pearls Before Swine
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To: Fiddlstix

Wow, that is scary!


45 posted on 08/17/2016 5:09:06 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (If only Hillary had married OJ instead......)
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To: chris37

One is a respectable profession. The other is academic.


46 posted on 08/17/2016 5:38:10 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: nickcarraway
Are they sure they heard the name correctly?


47 posted on 08/17/2016 5:39:22 AM PDT by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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To: BBell

teve Jobs — LSD

LSD was a big deal for Steve Jobs. How big? Evidently, Jobs believed that experimenting with LSD in the 1960s was “one of the two or three most important things he had done in his life.” What’s more, he felt that there were parts of him that the people he knew and worked with could not understand, simply because they hadn’t had a go at psychedelics. This latter sentiment also comes through in his recently published biography, wherein Jobs goes so far as to associate what he interpreted as Bill Gates’ dearth of imagination with a lack of psychedelic experimentation:


48 posted on 08/17/2016 6:24:54 AM PDT by hawg-farmer - FR..October 1998 (VMFA 235 '69-72)
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To: varyouga

The ONLY reason it continues is because many people make HUGE money off this insane policy


There is no magic bullet to fix these things. These problems have existed through the ages.

I need a little historical help from freepers. Why did we close down our mental health insitutuions? Part of the argument was that it was an industry and huge money was being made if I remember correctly.

Who bears the cost of mental health? (your reference to “socialism”) I remember in Iowa initialy it was counties, Every county had a county farm where disabled could work. Then we moved to property tax, I can still remember the line item on the property tax bill. Then it moved to state.

Who pays it now? and it is being paid and it involves HUGE MONEY. It is a big social cost. Insurance, state taxes and federal taxes.


49 posted on 08/17/2016 6:26:28 AM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: jonascord

Richard Feynman — LSD, Marijuana, Ketamine

Feynman was always careful about drug use, for fear of what it might do to his brain — giving up alcohol, for example, when he began to exhibit symptoms of addiction. In “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!,” he writes, “You see, I get such fun out of thinking that I don’t want to destroy this most pleasant machine that makes life such a big kick. It’s the same reason that, later on, I was reluctant to try experiments with LSD in spite of my curiosity about hallucinations.”

Nevertheless, Feynman’s curiosity got the best of him when he became acquainted with none other than John C. Lilly and his sensory deprivation tanks. Feynman experimented briefly with LSD, ketamine and marijuana, which he used to bring on isolation-induced hallucinations more quickly than he could when sober.


50 posted on 08/17/2016 6:26:30 AM PDT by hawg-farmer - FR..October 1998 (VMFA 235 '69-72)
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To: Talisker

Simple Definition of self–righteous
: having or showing a strong belief that your own actions, opinions, etc., are right and other people’s are wrong
Source: Merriam-Webster’s


51 posted on 08/17/2016 6:28:24 AM PDT by hawg-farmer - FR..October 1998 (VMFA 235 '69-72)
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To: chris37

...or both...


52 posted on 08/17/2016 6:28:35 AM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias; "Barack": Allah's current ally...)
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To: Talisker

Great. That is the most Ad Hominem attacks I have ever seen in one post. Congrats. This is the second person today I have seen you attack. Why so ANGRY? Also, I believe you are projecting, I can see it in your post: Psychological projection is a theory in psychology in which humans defend themselves against their own unconscious impulses or qualities (both positive and negative) by denying their existence in themselves while attributing them to others.[1] For example, a person who is habitually rude may constantly accuse other people of being rude. It incorporates blame shifting. HEH HEH


53 posted on 08/17/2016 6:33:43 AM PDT by hawg-farmer - FR..October 1998 (VMFA 235 '69-72)
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To: montag813

They have to keep the sheep pacified some way. Else they would have clear minds and realize what is going on and change back to where individuals, not Government, controlled their lives. If some serfs are killed along the way, it is just the cost of doing business.


54 posted on 08/17/2016 6:48:23 AM PDT by sport
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To: chris37

My vote goes to the tenured Sociology Professor at an IVY League University. Prostitutes have standards. Low ones but still standards.


55 posted on 08/17/2016 6:51:14 AM PDT by sport
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To: PLMerite

It’s probably all just Florida :D


56 posted on 08/17/2016 9:00:07 AM PDT by chris37 (How do you make Republicans turn on their own candidate? Sneak up behind them and say "Boo".)
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To: varyouga
The past 3 or 4 years has been like nothing I've seen before. At least a dozen people I grew up with died from some type of drug use. These were working class people with families. They were all in their 40’s or sometimes even younger. I don't live in a city, I live in a small town in CT. It's sad to see so many good people die so young.
57 posted on 08/17/2016 9:11:13 AM PDT by peeps36 (Save The Tortoise And Kill The People)
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To: peeps36

Over the summer my cousins kid tried synthetic MJ.

He has schizophrenia now!


58 posted on 08/17/2016 11:07:53 AM PDT by T-Bone Texan (Don't be a lone wolf. Form up small leaderlesss cells ASAP !)
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To: hawg-farmer - FR..October 1998
Psychological projection is a theory defense mechanism ... in which humans defend themselves against their own unconscious impulses or qualities (both positive and negative) by denying their existence in themselves while attributing them to others.[1] For example, a person who is habitually rude may constantly accuse other people of being rude. It incorporates blame shifting.
59 posted on 08/17/2016 11:14:18 AM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: Talisker
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump.
I said, "Don't do it!"
He said, "Nobody loves me."
I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"
"Yes."
"Are you a Christian or a Jew?"
"A Christian."
"Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?"
"Protestant."
"Me, too! What franchise?"
"Baptist."
"Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"
"Northern Baptist."
"Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
"Northern Conservative Baptist."
"Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?"
"Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region."
"Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?"
"Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912."
"Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

Why do I think you won't see the problem?

60 posted on 08/17/2016 12:34:48 PM PDT by jonascord (First rule of the Dunning-Kruger Club is that you do not know you are in the Dunning-Kruger club.)
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