Dangerous drug on the streets

BSO conducts information meeting about flakka in N. Lauderdale

Sgt. Ozzy Tianga and treatment counselor Don Maines of the Broward’s Sheriff Office are on a mission to raise awareness about the dangers of flakka.

Tianga and Maines recently visited North Lauderdale City Hall with stories about flakka users, including one man who ran naked through traffic and another who attempted to break into Fort Lauderdale police headquarters.

Flakka mirrors symptoms similar to crystal meth. The drug resembles rock candy and sometimes comes in powder form. It can be injected, smoked in an e-cigarette or joint, or poured into capsules and ingested.

“It is very inexpensive, about $1,500 for a kilogram. A kilogram of cocaine can be $30,000,” Tianga said.

Among the side effects are kidney failure, anxiety, extreme paranoia, psychosis and severe hallucinations. In high dosage, flakka causes “excited delirium,” also known as “superman effect” because of the superhuman strength that the addict exhibits. Delirium is accompanied by very high body temperature.

“It takes multiple paramedics and police officers to subdue them,” Tianga said.

Maines, a drug addiction coun- selor, said flakka is one of the most addictive drugs he’s seen.

“Some of these people will be lucky if they are only on dialysis for the rest of their lives. In some cases, the brains are not coming back for 60 days, maybe months,” he said.

The Sheriff’s Office sprung into action several months ago after a group of people from Pompano Beach approached Sheriff Scott Is-

rael about the impact new drug is having.

“Every night, we get at least one case,” said Karen Weinstock, a psychiatric nurse at University Hospital in Tamarac. “This has been going on for the last five to six months. It is people of all ages, from Tamarac and all

the our neighboring cities. It is draining, really overwhelming for us.”

Tianga, Maines and other members of the Sheriff’s Office will be addressing community meetings about the issue in various cities. Meetings with doctors, psychologists and others are also planned.

“Cities have to come together and work as a team to deal with this,” said North Lauderdale Mayor Jack Brady.

Arun Sivasankaran can be reached at asivasankaran@ tribune.com.