Author: Alex Thompson

Flakka: What is the ‘zombie drug’ blamed for face-eating attacks?

This helpline is answered by Ark Behavioral Health, an addiction treatment provider with treatment facilities in Massachusetts and Ohio. Usually, flakka is white or pink in color and comes in the form of crystals. Coronary artery syndrome is caused by plaque build-up in the walls of the coronary arteries which may partially or completely block blood flow.

Given the availability and widespread distribution of the drug, however, if it turned users into cannibals, there would be more reports of such instances publicly available. Flakka has been classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a Schedule I drug. Federally, government officials certainly can consider classifying xylazine as a controlled substance.

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The action of alpha-PVP appears to block the reuptake of norepinephrine and dopamine. “We need more help with prevention, harm reduction, rehab and recovery houses – these should be the absolute solution now!” she said. When the wounds caused by the xylazine get to a certain stage, the user may either admit themselves to the hospital or be taken to hospital. But their urge for another ‘hit’ will often be greater than the recognition that the wounds need to be treated.

Flakka, the zombie drug, is very dangerous, don’t let the fact that it has almost been eliminated in the US lull you into a state of security. The use of this illegal drug is spreading among other countries and may once again become a health concern in the United States. The idea of overdose prevention sites also has merit, says Jeanmarie Perrone, founding director of the Penn Medicine Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy. People at prevention sites use controlled substances in a monitored setting, have access to clean syringes, and can be connected with other services that may promote recovery. It’s difficult to overstate how incompatible the drug is with human consumption.

1. “The hospitals can’t keep the patients comfortable – because of their addiction – to keep them long enough to get the wounds under control,” Ronnie Kaiser told me.
2. On block after block in the Kensington district we saw people suffering from addiction who were increasingly finding their opioid supply was being cut by dealers with xylazine.
3. The New York Times recently noted that the drug-checking machines capable of identifying a substance like tranq can run to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, money that most cash-strapped health departments don’t have.
4. When someone is addicted to flakka, they can experience withdrawal symptoms without it.

The drug can also flood the brain with dopamine, which results in intense feelings of euphoria. It also triggers a reward response in users’ brains, making them come back for more. The main active ingredients in the drug known as ‘bath salts’ are MPDV, mephedrone, and methylone. It was around this time that flakka began to be produced with alpha-PVP as its active ingredient. The latest attack and speculation, however, seem to reinforce the idea that cannibalism is symptomatic of taking drugs like bath salts or flakka. But the incident itself is isolated, and it remains unclear whether or not Harrouff was actually on flakka.

Does flakka turn people into cannibals?

The numbers, both in the northeast and around the U.S., are likely significant underestimates. Though he stayed away from the drug during his days as a user, Sherman knows what to look for. As a result, when people smoke pot, “CBD reduces the negative effects of THC,” D’Souza said. Although synthetic cannabinoids contain THC, they don’t contain CBD, so the release of chemical messengers in the brain goes unchecked, thus creating more undesirable effects, D’Souza speculated. Earlier this month, the San Francisco Department of Health announced that low levels of xylazine were found in the systems of four people who overdosed, suggesting that the substance can be hidden in drugs unbeknownst to the users.

Behavioral therapy can treat addiction to synthetic cathinones like flakka. Examples of behavioral therapy include cognitive-behavioral therapy, contingency management and motivational incentives. As flakka is a new drug, there is still a lot to learn about the treatment of the substance.

Flakka is the latest in a selection of synthetic drugs used in the United States. The illegal substance can sell on the streets for as little as five dollars a hit. As a component of drugs ingested by humans, xylazine was first observed in Puerto Rico in the mid-2000s. There were scattered reports of its use in Philadelphia as early as 2006, but researchers say it wasn’t until COVID hit in 2020, that tranq exploded as a major part of the street drug life, both in Philadelphia and elsewhere. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, xylazine is a non-opioid tranquilizer used in veterinary medicine which is not approved for human use. However, it has increasingly been used illicitly as an adulterant in combination with other drugs, mostly fentanyl, but also with cocaine, heroin and other drugs, the U.S.

2What is the ‘zombie drug’ flakka, blamed for face-eating attacks?

They also forecast that the prevalence of xylazine will increase in the fentanyl supply, but will also increase in usage on its own, as it did in Puerto Rico. While there are no FDA-approved medications for addiction to flakka, there are medicines available for co-occurring mental health conditions. 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. The cathinones also inhibit the reuptake of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in the central nervous system.

Regular marijuana contains the cannabinoid THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which can attach to receptors in the brain to activate the release of chemical messengers that can make people feel paranoid or anxious, he explained. But the marijuana plant also produces another compound known as cannabidiol, or CBD, which stops the brain from continuing to release these chemical messengers, he said. Exactly how the compounds in K2/spice work to produce their effects is unclear, Scalzo said. They may act directly on the specific receptors in the brain that can bind these chemicals, and they may change how the brain works in the short term and, potentially, the long term, Scalzo explained. This is largely because the drug simply has not been around for very long. In Broward County, Florida, some 60 people died by the end of 2015 – only 14 months after the drug began taking its hold on the area.

The city reported that 90% of lab-tested dope samples from 2021 contained xylazine, which can increase the risk of overdose when combined with other illicit substances. Professional drug addiction treatment is the only viable option for someone who is using flakka. Use our database of treatment centers to find the best possible care center in your area. The major effects of flakka tend to last for 3 to 4 days, but longer times are possible, especially with higher doses. Also, keep in mind that flakka could be cut with other drugs, such as cocaine, meth, or heroin. These drugs could alter the effects of flakka, including how long the drug lasts.

What is Flakka?

One of the reasons researchers and government agencies don’t know more about xylazine’s health impact on people, in fact, is that clinical trials were long ago abandoned because the side effects were so dangerous. The DEA says that the major route of xylazine into the drugs trade comes from veterinarian suppliers online, as it is legal to buy the substance for use in veterinary medicine. It can be bought in liquid form either in vials or preloaded syringes, and is sold by concentration based on the animal it is being administered to. Furthermore, a @DEAHQ report issued in December stated Xylazine-positive overdose deaths are up 103% in the Northeast, more than doubling from 2020 to 2021. According to the DEA, it was the highest increase of Xylazine-positive fatal overdoses in the country during that timespan.

When experiencing excited delirium, some people react with violent behavior and self-injury. 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. Flakka is an addictive drug that people use to obtain a cheap, quick, and euphoric high. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter involved in the pleasure and reward center of the brain, which gives off that euphoric feeling.

This is because the “comedown” after drug ingestion causes feelings of depression and being down. “But there is a massive difference between spice and marijuana,” D’Souza said. The compounds found in spice can be anywhere between 10 and 200 times more potent than THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and they can produce more robust effects, he said.