Video: New Street Drug Hits Mississippi

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Lowndes County, Miss. (WCBI) — Over the past couple months, the synthetic drug Spice has sent hundreds of Mississippians to the emergency room.

But now Spice is being joined by another street drug called Flakka.

Lowndes County law enforcers says the drug is coming from Florida, and they say most of what is coming out of the Sunshine State is being distributed from overseas.

Side effects of the drug include hallucinations, high body temperatures, and adrenaline-like strength.

One of the biggest challenges when law enforcement faces a suspect who is under the influence of synthetic drugs like Flakka is how to control someone in a delusional state.
“[Responding officers are] having to request 4 or 5 officers come to the scene…”, says Lowndes County Narcotics Sergeant Kevin Forrester, “…we as law enforcement have to rely on our back up. “That’s all we have.”

Not only is law enforcement having to keep up with all the synthetic drugs, but medical professionals are also dealing with issues as to how to treat people on the drugs.

“We don’t have a lot of specific testing to know exactly what they took and exactly what we’re dealing with…”, says Baptist Memorial Emergency Room Physician Dr. Keith McCoy, “…and a lot of times….it’s those products are so cheap and so strong that they’re usually cut with other things and we don’t even know what we’re dealing with sometimes.”

Dr. McCoy says that these synthetic drugs do the most damage to the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and is also leading to kidney failure.

Until sufficient information is obtained about these synthetic drugs and the chemicals that are used, health officials must use the same protocol as they would when supporting any other overdose patient.

“It’s just a matter of supporting that vital organ system until that patient has recovered and that toxin is eliminated from the body…”, said Dr. McCoy.

Dr McCoy also said the Mississippi Department of Health is quick in providing information on these new synthetic drugs when they show up and that the Center for Disease Control is also a helpful tool.

Lowndes County Narcotics Agency says there are now cases of Flakka in Lowndes County.