Drugs, legal and illegal, carry many risks. While those who sell these drugs referred to “side effects,” those side effects, in reality, primary effects, just not the ones the drug is marketed for. Some drugs are considered more dangerous. Aspirin can be bought over the counter very cheaply. A kilo of cocaine is slightly more expensive and it comes with much more risk, both for the user and for those who sell it.
The presence of illegal drugs was used as the reason for the so-called ‘war on drugs,’ which has cost billions of dollars, increasingly militarized law enforcement and left tens of thousands incarcerated. The latest crisis has been the appearance of “synthetic drugs,” such as bath salts and fentanyl.
What makes some of these synthetic drugs more dangerous is that they are often many times more powerful than the non-synthetic version and the potential for very bizarre behavior that can lead to severe reactions and potentially death.
An incident last week in South Florida may have been due to a synthetic drug. Two individuals were allegedly killed by a teen boy who seemed possessed with superhuman strength and was accused of attempting to eat parts of the man he allegedly killed. He is now facing murder charges for their deaths.
The Sheriff suggested the teen was under the influence of flakka, a synthetic drug that often causes extreme behavior. The drug had appeared in Florida in 2014 and numerous cases of bizarre, self-destructive behavior occurred from users. This year, the crises nature of the spread of the drug seemed to have diminished, but this incident as brought it back into the headlines.
For most drug users, incarceration does not solve their substance abuse issues, but anyone using needs to be aware of the risks posed by this drug, as you could be facing far more severe charges than simple possession.