flakka
As if synthetic bath salts weren't psychosis-inducing enough, there's a new and super-cheap drug in South Florida, and it's on the rise: Flakka. Shown: Bath salts -- the street drug that has a similar chemical structure and similar amphetamine-like properties of Flakka. Drug Enforcement Agency

In the latest news out of Florida regarding psychosis-inducing drugs, a man in Fort Lauderdale, naked except for his sneakers, ran into oncoming traffic away from imaginary pursuers before he was nabbed by police, reported the Sun Sentinel on Monday. And it was all caught on tape. His drug of choice? Flakka.

Not to be confused with Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame, Flakka, the new drug out of South Florida also known as "$5 insanity" and "gravel," is causing mayhem in a state that is already a meme for being the epicenter of all things weird in the United States.

Imported from China, Pakistan and India, the synthetic street drug, called a "cousin" to "bath salts," according to Forbes, is either snorted, smoked or injected, and induces rapid body-temperature elevation, the need to disrobe and a psychotic paranoia convincing the user that he is being chased, a la new horror film "It Follows." It can raise body temperature up to 106 degrees, and like amphetamines, it creates a state of "excited delirium."

Matthew Kenny, 34, told Fort Lauderdale police that after smoking Flakka, he felt he was being pursued by people who wanted to kill him and ran into traffic because "he'd rather die than be caught by these unknown people," reported the Sun Sentinel. He was taken in for psychiatric evaluation.

In March, police surveillance videos in the same city recorded the curious sight of a man, James West, high on Flakka trying to break into the police station by kicking the door and throwing a rock. He told Fort Lauderdale Police Detective Tracy Figone that several cars were chasing him and he ran to the police for help, reported CBS Miami.

The main ingredient in Flakka, reports Business Insider, comes from a compound called alpha-PVP, a chemical similar in composition to one that was in bath salts. Although that active ingredient was banned, reports Business Insider, alpha-PVP is now legal in states that don't ban the chemical.

Unfortunately for law enforcement, Flakka, improbably, is rising in popularity. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, there were no known cases in Florida in 2010, 85 in 2012 -- and 670 reported in 2014.

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