Labs detect flakka in workplace drug tests as police warn of new synthetic drug wave
IT IS the horror drug that sends users into wide-eyed rage, leaving them clawing at roads, lunging at cars and engaged in all manner of bizarre and dangerous behaviour.
And after fears it would reach Australian shores, dreaded designer drug flakka has now arrived.
Flakka — also known as gravel or alpha-PVP and one of many “bath salt” drugs around — has already terrified communities across the United States and Europe.
And now Australians are among its users, toxicology expert Andrew Leibie has told news.com.au.
“I know flakka has been reported in post-mortem findings in Australia, but whether or not it was the cause of death, or whether it was one of several drugs present, we don’t know,” he said.
“At the moment we’re starting to see it become more of an issue in Australia. (The US and Europe) are really having problems (with flakka) and I suspect we’re going to follow that experience.”
Florida is one of the worst-hit areas for flakka use. Earlier this year, a man high on flakka attacked a police officer after running naked through the streets, declaring himself God and having sex with a tree. A Fort Lauderdale man was also arrested naked and on flakka after he ran into traffic to escape an imaginary being he thought was trying to kill him. Flakka was also linked to the death of a Deerfield Beach man in December.
Now flakka has reached the Australian drug market, local companies are now worried their staff are using it.
Mr Leibie, who is the national marketing director for national drug testing laboratory Safe Work Laboratories, said his lab was testing for flakka in workplaces at a detection rate of 1 per cent, but stressed that wasn’t necessarily indicative of the rate of flakka use in Australia generally.
“We have had several approaches from large companies, mostly mining companies but some oil and gas companies as well, who have specifically said to us, ‘Can you please test for some of these drugs, including flakka’,” he said.
“I’m not certain what is driving that, whether companies have some intelligence on their side or they’re trying to get ahead of the curve, or possibly because they have some international operations and they’re seeing what’s happening in places like Miami in Florida. But it’s popping up on companies’ radars in Australia.”
Flakka is one of a large number of new psychoactive substances (NPS), which also includes drugs like synthetic cannabis. They are marketed as being “safe” or “herbal” alternatives to illicit drugs — but are far from it.
Mr Leibie said flakka and its derivatives triggered any number of reactions.
“Generally they have both a hallucinogenic-type affect, like LSD or magic mushrooms, but then they also have a stimulant effect, like ice,” he said.
“And you put the two together and it makes for a pretty nasty mix. People are thinking they’re seeing demons or the walls are possessed or whatever, and at the same time they have all the aggression and hyper stimulation and getting into fights for no reason that we see from ice usage.
“That’s what makes it so bad I guess — it’s taking the worst of those traditional drugs and combining them.”
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http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/he...thetic-drug-wave/story-fneuzlbd-1227553167240
