Author: Gary Jackson

Flakka: The Zombie Drug RN com

The numbers, both in the northeast and around the U.S., are likely significant underestimates. Its presence in drug-related deaths rose from 0.3% to 6.7% between 2015 and 2020, according to a 2022 report published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. That rate was more than 10% in Connecticut, 19% in Maryland and nearly 26% in Pennsylvania, where Sherman remade his life after years of homelessness and drug use. As with all substance abuse, those experiencing addiction to flakka should screen for co-occurring mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety. 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.

While the drug naloxone (sold under the brand name Narcan) can reverse the effects of fentanyl overdose, it has no effect on xylazine. Xylazine is most prevalent in Northeastern cities in the U.S. but it has been identified in illicit drug supplies in 48 states. And in Philadelphia, for example, xylazine was found in more than 90 percent of illicit drug samples tested in 2021, O’Neil and Kovach said. The images show the injuries suffered by a man in his 30s who had been injecting the synthetic opioid fentanyl adulterated with xylazine into his neck and arm veins for three years. 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.

Behavioral therapy

In March, Sky News revealed the scale of the xylazine crisis in the northeastern city of Philadelphia, where the drug cocktail first emerged, with a report that exposed the true cost of America’s evolving drug challenge. Like synthetic marijuana in New York City, flakka emerged in public consciousness in 2015 after a viral video on YouTube, titled “Flocka [sic] is Destroying USA”, depicted a young woman dancing in the rain. Since then, other videos showing people with erratic behaviour were soon attributed to the drug.

• Though he stayed away from the drug during his days as a user, Sherman knows what to look for.
• What makes the ‘zombie drug’ so dangerous is that if you overdose on Xylazine mixed with fentanyl, eroine, or other illicit drugs.
• They can also be taken orally, smoked, or placed into a solution and injected into the veins.
• The active ingredient in Flakka is a-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone (alpha-PVP); a chemical similar to cathinone, a naturally occurring stimulant substance found in a shrub called ‘khat’.

These include cocaine, methamphetamine (crystal meth), and MDMA (molly or ecstasy). Flakka is a highly addictive and dangerous drug, otherwise known as alpha-PVP (alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone.) It is an amphetamine-like stimulant that belongs to the cathinone drug class. Cathinones are man-made, or synthetic drugs containing cathinone, a naturally occurring stimulant found in the khat plant. Flakka is a street name for the designer drug known as, a-Pyrrolidinopentiophenone that is known to cause paranoia and psychosis. Flakka is a synthetic drug of the cathinone variety, closely related to another synthetic cathinone known as ‘bath salts’.

What is tranq

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. Flakka originally became popular as a new synthetic drug in South Florida with people looking for a cheap high. 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. For some time now, there is a dangerous drug circulating the streets of the U.S. referred to as the ‘zombie drug’. This mysterious substance can make those who use it act violent, aimless, and ‘zombie-like’. 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.

What is Flakka (Alpha-PVP) & Is It Addictive?

Xylazine was first detected as a problem around 20 years ago in Puerto Rico, but has gradually made its way across the U.S. The DEA predicts that xylazine will follow the same path as fentanyl did, working from the east towards the west. 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. “Tranq is basically zombifying people’s bodies,” Sam, aged 28, told Sky News.

The action of alpha-PVP appears to block the reuptake of norepinephrine and dopamine. We are here to provide assistance in locating an Ark Behavioral Health treatment center that may meet your treatment needs. Doctors have published photos revealing the disturbing impact of a dangerous fentanyl additive on the human body.

She pointed to the perennial American problem of medical insurance and the ‘for profit’ medical facilities. Even those living on the streets and suffering from addiction are required to navigate the country’s complex health system if they are to stand a real chance of recovery. The drug, an animal tranquillizer, is increasingly mixed or “cut” by drug dealers into supplies of fentanyl which itself is already killing over 100,000 Americans every year. But although its dangers may have been exaggerated, taking the drug is risky – it is addictive and can cause fatal overdoses. 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.