Author: Gary Jackson

alpha-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone Wikipedia

NBC News reported that upon her very first experience with the flakka drug, she hallucinated that she was being chased. She then ripped off her clothes and jumped three stories off a bridge and into the water below. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, these foul-smelling crystals can be eaten, snorted, injected, or vaporized, the latter of which is the most dangerous method as it sends the drug directly into the bloodstream at unparalleled speeds. Synthetic cathinones are also labeled as ‘not for human consumption.’ These labels help hide the real reason for the product’s existence, so the drugs distribute easily. The cathinones also inhibit the reuptake of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in the central nervous system. This is because the “comedown” after drug ingestion causes feelings of depression and being down.

• Law enforcement and community activists were instrumental in limiting the damage done by the drug’s dangerous effects.
• The attacker’s parents reported he had displayed strange behavior for months prior to the incident and that he possibly suffered from undiagnosed schizophrenia.
• The belief that Flakka or other “bath salt” use can turn you into a zombie or cannibal appears to have been a somewhat effective deterrent against use.
• The results indicate that the neurochemical, behavioral, and cardiovascular effects of racemic α-PVP most likely reflect the effects of the S isomer.
• Future research should focus on the development of analytical methods for rapid identification in both live and dead specimens.
• A brief review of the previously reported human α-PVP poisoning cases is summarized in Table 1.

Hall says the drug is designed to cause the brain to flood with dopamine, a hormone that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers, and then block the transmitters, producing an intense feeling of euphoria. “Normally when dopamine would be released, even naturally or even with other drugs, it then gets reuptaked — it goes back to its original transmitting neuron,” said Hall. Thanks to the legal or semi-legal status of this drug, it may be more accessible to younger people at risk for drug use and abuse. This is known as medication-assisted treatment and is administered under supervision to reduce cravings, bolster abstinence, and treat symptoms such as psychosis and agitation. Outpatient treatment is received in medical centers or other treatment facilities that the patient visits regularly as part of their normal life.

What are the complications of Flakka use?

Overall, acute exposure to α-PVP evoked psychostimulant (but not anxiolytic-like) effects in this novel zebrafish tank test, with characteristic and stereotypic ‘side-to-side’ bottom swimming at 5, 25, and 50 mg/L. High-performance liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC/HRMS) analyses of zebrafish brains showed detectable levels of α-PVP following its acute administration, likely underlying the observed behavioral effects. The signal peaks for α-PVP in the brain were consistent with the systemic concentrations of the drug that were given. Collectively, these findings support zebrafish sensitivity to α-PVP and show some parallels with its effects in mammals. This study also suggests that aquatic models based on zebrafish can help to further examine the CNS effects evoked by α-PVP and to screen for related new synthetic psychoactive drugs. However, no experimental studies have been conducted to investigate the chronic impact of α-PVP on human health.

The close relationship between Flakka and bath salts suggests that use of this drug may also lead to increased risk of uncontrollable or excessive movement and hyperactivity. Flakka’s similarity to bath salts implies a high potential to cause violent behavior and other negative psychosocial consequences when taken, especially when used in high doses. This may lead to unintentional injury and various forms of trauma that may be severe.

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Similar to other synthetic cathinone drugs, α-PVP can effectively inhibit norepinephrine and dopamine transmitters. The adverse reactions of α-PVP mainly include mania, tachycardia, and hallucinations. An increasing number of people are being admitted to emergency wards due to the consequences of their use.

• This dangerous class of drugs gets its kick from manmade compounds chemically related to cathinone, a derivative of the khat shrub.
• New structures have new properties and thus create unique behavioral characteristics during intoxication.
• Furthermore, there has been an alarming increase in the accessibility to these drugs, as well as increased exploitation and hospitalization in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe [19].
• Thanks to the legal or semi-legal status of this drug, it may be more accessible to younger people at risk for drug use and abuse.

In the course of the last four years, Flakka (α-PVP) has penetrated markets all over the world, especially the US, European states, Australia, and Japan. The growing number of seizures, intoxications, and deaths connected with α-PVP exploitation, and the lack of a relevant antidote for cathinone exposure, requires further investigation among toxicologists. In addition, national governments should take relevant measures in order to control the use of this novel dangerous drug. Future research should focus on the development of analytical methods for rapid identification in both live and dead specimens. Kolesnikova and coworkers characterized the behavioral effects of α-PVP in adult zebrafish following acute (1, 5, 25, and 50 mg/L for 20 min) and chronic (1, 5, and 10 mg/L for seven days) treatments [43].

Mental Health Treatment

There have been about 540 various drugs categorized as novel psychoactive substances since 2014 [1]. Bath salts are usually white or brown crystal-like powder, available for sale in small plastic bags marked “Not for Human Consumption”. They are also known as “plant food”, “phone screen cleaner”, or “jewelry cleaner” [3]. These names do not reflect the product properties; they are just a cover for the drug council or the local police.

Authorities, however, believed Harouff was likely high on the new street drug called Flakka, as use had previously been attributed to widespread incidents of strange and sometimes violent behavior. MDMA, known widely as Molly, has been the cause of a number of fatalities and the recent round of overdoses that hospitalized a dozen people at Wesleyan University. Flakka is most typically made from the chemical alpha-PVP, which is a synthetic version of the amphetamine-like stimulant cathinone.

Patients recovering from cathinone toxicity may also require ongoing care to regain functional status lost in the course of adverse effects on the heart or cardiovascular system. Targeted substance abuse recovery for those experiencing problems with Flakka use may include inpatient rehab or outpatient treatment. Thus, there are cases as violent as Austin Harrouff, and sometimes as unhinged as a 37-year-old Floridian identified only as Stephanie.

• Thanks to their specific properties, these drugs create inimitable experiences for intoxicated people.
• Outpatient treatment is received in medical centers or other treatment facilities that the patient visits regularly as part of their normal life.
• Behavioral therapy can treat addiction to synthetic cathinones like flakka.
• Bath salts come in powder form, which is typically packaged in gelatin capsules.
• For thousands of years, people have chewed the shrub’s leaves for their psychoactive effects in the plant’s native North Africa and Saudi Arabia.