Flakka continues to wreak havoc on Broward County. A grand jury recently released a report with suggestions for combating synthetic drugs like Flakka and its effects on the community.
Flakka is addictive, it's taken plenty of lives and it's given people crazy illusions of superhuman strength. The grand jury took a hard look at ways to prevent deaths at the hands of this cheap and accessible street drug.
Grand jurors in Broward found there were 61 Flakka-related deaths in just 15 months back from September 2014.
"The grand jury was concerned about the deaths and the resulting impact that the influx or proliferation of these drugs has had on our community," said Tony Lowe, Broward Assistant State Attorney.
Lowe said the grand jury heard from police officers, doctors and paramedics who've responded to violent Flakka cases. Their report is offering some solid suggestions: treatment resources like rehab facilities, research and better community education.
"We'd like for those that are in power to start looking at different ways that we can teach and think outside of the box about how we can tell people that you don't do recreational drugs because they end up in death," Lowe said.
Flakka can have extremely harmful effects like hallucinations, violence, seizures, increased blood pressure and more. To make things worse, the drug is cheap. An eight-hour high costs about $5.
Local
"What's happening is that every time one of these drugs gets outlawed, then the chemist changes the molecular structure and it's now not illegal and they sell it as not illegal," Lowe explained.
A proposed law would change that. The grand jury is calling for the passage of a Florida law that would regulate an entire class of synthetic drugs, not just their molecular or chemical structure.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's 2016 Florida Designer Drug Enforcement Act would do just that: categorically outlawing synthetic drugs in Florida. It is being considered in the current Legislative session.
"What we're hoping is the Legislature will take it and back the bill so that the governor will have it for his signature so that we start outlawing the class of drugs that are causing these people on synthetic drugs to do the most bizarre and outlandish things," Lowe said. "They're not a danger to themselves. They're victims because of what they've taken but they're also victimizing our community."
As the report suggests, lawmakers are hoping to make some sweeping changes to keep this psychotic drug off the streets and out of people's hands.
