Deadly new drug hits Australia
FIRST ON 7: A new synthetic drug that is said to be worse than ice, has hit our shores.
The designer drug known as Flakka, causes bizarre and dangerous behaviour and has been blamed for several deaths in the US.
Now the cheap drug which is marketed to young people, has been detected in Australia.
“It will be appearing on the streets, it will be appearing in schools, it will be appearing in work places,” forensic toxicologist Andrew Leibie told 7 News.
“They are marketed often as herbal highs or legal highs... Which of course they're not, they're completely synthetic.”
The drug which is targeted at young people who are used as guinea pigs, sells for as little as $15.
Also known as 'gravel', flakka's a type of NPS - a novel psychoactive substance.
The medical and scientific community are deeply concerned about the drug, which is being increasingly produced.
“I wouldn't recommend that anyone goes near it, unless they want to turn themselves into some sort of lab experiment,” addiction medicine specialist Dr Philip Crowley told 7 News.
“There's no certainty about exactly what you're taking.”
Last year a woman on one of the drugs was taken to emergency after exhibiting bizarre behaviour at a city nightclub.
She had been compulsively licking the dance floor, so much so it shredded her tongue.
“It is a vast uncontrolled experiment on the young people of Australia,” Mr Leibie said.
