Flakka Reappears, This Time in Missouri

Alpha-PVP, also known as “flakka” has been steadily disappearing from the streets of Florida, but has now reappeared in Missouri.

According to addiction news website The Fix, “Reports that alpha-PVP had been seized in areas around Springfield, the third largest city in Missouri, began surfacing in late 2015” through local purchases from China (Gaita, 2016). Drug users are showing up in emergency rooms around the state—particularly in the southwest—suffering from symptoms of flakka use, which led police and health officials to realize the designer drug has resurfaced.

“If you hear about a drug gaining a foothold in another part of the country it will invariably be here in St. Louis in the next year,” stated Mike Morrison, who works for Bridgeway Behavioral Health (Gaita, 2016).

Aside from Florida and Missouri, other states recently dealing with flakka include Maine, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia.

References

Gaita, P. (2016). Flakka may be on the rise in Missouri. Retrieved from https://www.thefix.com/flakka-may-be-rise-missouri