JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s one of the newest designer drugs to hit the streets, and it is running rampant throughout Florida.
The synthetic drug is extremely dangerous and only takes a little to have major effects on a person. Recent bizarre incidents out of southeast Florida have made headlines, such as people acting violent, hallucinating and stripping naked in public.
Experts studying the drug say a small-time dealer can purchase a kilogram, which will produce 10,000 doses.
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Each dose costs merely $5, which is why low income and homeless communities are being targeted. Flakka consists of alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone or alpha-PVP, which is produced in China.
Action News spoke to an expert, who said it has been tracked in the U.S. since the beginning of 2014.
"In that year, there were over 2,700 crime lab cases identified throughout the United States. About 20 percent or one fifth of those were in southeast Florida," said Jim Hall, an epidemiologist with Nova Southeastern University.
Flakka has been banned by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Action News reached out to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, and they said there haven't been any reports of people using Flakka in Jacksonville.
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