Free Republic

ELLSWORTH, Maine —Maine police said they have discovered the dangerous drug Flakka for the first time. Flakka, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is a synthetic drug similar to bath salts. It has been found commonly in the southern U.S. Ellsworth police said a test of a brown powder they seized from a man in August 2015 came back positive for Flakka. Police said, Ryan Miller, 33, of Southwest Harbor, Maine, was issued a summons for unlawful possession of a schedule W drug.

A man died after downing a pint of vodka in four seconds, an inquest heard. Richard Davies, 29, from Thornaby, near Stockton, had been drinking with friends before the alcohol knocked him unconscious in January. Mr Davies was found not breathing in a pool of his own blood, and died hours later. Recording a verdict of misadventure, Teesside coroner Tony Eastwood said the alcohol in his system had killed him. The hearing on Tuesday at Teesside Coroner's Court was told how the electrician's mate was five-and-a-half times the legal drink-drive limit and his body contained traces of the then-legal high...

A new drug billed as a mix between cocaine and ecstasy is being sold to Australians online, despite health authorities warning "human guinea pigs" to stay away because its long-term effects are not yet known. The substance mephedrone is known in drug circles as MM-Cat, Plant Food Meow and 4-MMC and is being pedalled through websites like Facebook, the Sunday Telegraph reports. But authorities are believed to be powerless to stop anyone buying it or importing it into Australia because its legal status has not yet been defined. NSW Police told the Sunday Telegraph they were aware of mephedrone and...