New designer drug making headlines

  • Published
  • 17th Training Wing Legal Office
There is a new designer drug making its way through the streets. Known as Flakka, it causes violent paranoia-induced outbursts and is illegal for military members to ingest.

This drug is also known as gravel for its white crystal chunks that look like aquarium gravel. Flakka is a chemical relative of bath salts. After the chemical substances required to manufacture bath salts were banned in 2011, underground chemists replaced the original ingredients with alpha-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (alpha-PVP), a synthetic cathinone.

The drug works the same way as bath salts and cocaine. The stimulant inhibits the re-uptake of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, causing violent hallucinations, inducing dangerous spikes in body temperature and triggering paranoia. Its combination of consumability, price, addictiveness, and longer-lasting effects is making it a dangerous and enticing alternative to “traditional” drugs.

The normal dose of Flakka is much lower than cocaine or methamphetamine, at one-tenth of a gram it is very easy to overdose. The drug has also been found to be more addictive than meth. A typical high on the drug can last three to four hours. The prolonged effects can permanently damage neurons and kidneys.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency banned alpha-PVP in early 2014 and listed the drug for emergency scheduling under the controlled substance list, suppliers are circumventing the ban by sticking “not for human consumption” labels on the drug. The DEA ban is only temporary, and it will probably take several more years of data collection to stamp a federal ban on Flakka.

While Flakka awaits a federal ban, it is important to note that the use of the drug is prohibited under Air Force Instructions and the Manual for Courts-Martial. AFI 44-121 paragraph 3.2.3 states that the knowing use of any intoxicating substance, other than the lawful use of alcohol or tobacco products that is inhaled, injected or introduced into the body in any manner to alter mood or function is prohibited. Military members who use Flakka are subject to prosecution under Article 92, Uniform Code of Military Justice, for dereliction of duty.

Members of the Armed Forces, must be aware of how these chemicals affect the body, mind and mission. Stay one step ahead of drug designer by abstaining, looking out for each other and remembering that the military demands higher standards at all times.

For further information on this topic, please contact the base Legal Office at 325-654-3203.