Flocka Drug Called The Flakka $5 Insanity Named After Rapper Waka Flocka Flame?

A new designer drug called the Flakka $5 insanity has hit the streets in recent times, but although media reports typically refer it as the Flakka drug, it actually may be more popularly known as the Flakka drug in honor of hip hop artist Waka Flocka Flame.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, the latest incident involving Flakka’s side effects had one Melbourne, Florida, man named Kenneth Crowder declaring his secret identity as the god Thor before fighting police, and that is not even the really crazy part.

The Flakka drug is a type of designer synthetic cathinone that can be snorted, smoked, injected, or swallowed, and it happens to share some chemical similarities with the “bath salts” drugs that hit the streets years ago. Cathinones are chemicals derived from the khat plant, which is chewed by some in the Middle East in order to generate a buzz by flooding the brain with dopamine.

So why is this new street drug referred to both the Flocka drug or the Flakka drug? According to Jim Hall, an epidemiologist at the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities at Nova Southeastern University in Broward County, Florida, the street name may refer to the famous hip hop artist, Waka Flocka Flame.

But there are other theories for why it is called Flakka. Hall notes that Flakka is Hispanic slang which refers to a “beautiful, elegant woman who charms all she meets.” The word flaca also means “skinny” in Spanish, but it can go by several other names.

“When we first heard the word we thought it was referring to the fact that it’s a strong stimulant, almost all stimulants have an appetite depressant quality to them, an almost anorexic quality,” Hall said, according to CBS. “One of the kind of 21st century trends in drug supply is creating new brand names like flakka and building its popularity and then selling anything. Elsewhere in the country [flakka is] actually quite a popular drug. It’s often sold under the street name gravel because of its crystal, small, lumped-up appearance that looks like grainy pebbles or gravel in an aquarium.”

Although the media has largely referred to the designer drug as Flakka, Google searches for “Flocka drug” are almost twice as popular. The timing of this popularity also happens to coincide with the recent arrest of Waka Flocka Flame in 2015. The Georgia rapper was charged with crimes related to guns and drugs, and it just so happens this took place at the end of January, right before searches for “Flocka drug” started skyrocketing.

[Image via Ouch Magazine]