New, dangerous drug ‘flakka’ arrives in SWFL

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- A new, deadly drug is hitting Southwest Florida streets.

Flakka is a designer drug, much like bath salts. It can cause hallucinations, terrible mood swings, and it can kill.

“When I hear of something new, I say ‘okay, when am I going to start seeing that?” said Steven Hill.

Hill is the program director for the youth residential treatment center at Salus Care. He says he’s been treating kids as young as 16 to defeat their addiction to flakka.

The drug can cause users to act aggressive and manic, and it takes a toll on their bodies.

Videos from Florida’s east coast show people doing crazy things while on the drug.

“Elevated heart rate, elevated blood pressure, diaphoresis, which is known as sweating,” said Brandon Short.

Short is a physicians assistant at the White Sands Treatment Center. He says the drug was first prominent in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville.

Short says it’s easy for anyone to get their hands on it, including teenagers.

“A lot of high school students are using vape. This is one of those drugs that is easily vaped,” said Short.

The drug is comprised of a number of deadly chemicals. The poisonous pesticide Raid is just one of them.

But, as long as people are buying the drug, it will continue to hit the streets.

“It’s going through lower level gangs which is distributing it out through Southwest Florida,” said Short.

Experts say flakka came out of nowhere. Just five years ago, the government says there were no reported cases of the drug. In 2014, the DEA says there were more than 600 reports of the drug.