New Designer Drug Hits The Streets
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - There's a new synthetic drug on the streets making its mark.
"Flakka" or "Gravel" is a synthetic stimulant that has many effects, according to Dr. Luke Watterson, a post doctoral fellow at Temple University School of Medicine's Center for Substance Abuse:
"It increases energy, it can basically lead to what's called 'excited delirium,' basically creates a hyper thermic response, it causes euphoria, makes people hallucinate, it causes violent, bizarre behaviours and sometimes super human strength."
Dr. Luke Watterson says it's smoked, swallowed, snorted or used in a vaporizer:
"The drug itself actually comes in a powder or crystal, so it looks like the gravel you would see like in an aquarium or something like that it's typically clear, if it's a powder it's a white or off white
Flakka is made in a lab, but is derived from the khat plant (pictured above) which is found in the Middle East and Somalia.