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As drugs go, it's dirt cheap, potent and deadly. And it creates surreal, pitiful scenes like this: a man running down the street buck naked, fleeing from imaginary dogs.
The addictive, synthetic Chinese-made drug known on the streets as "flakka", or gravel, has killed dozens of people in Florida, and its popularity is spreading fast. Also known as "US$5 insanity" in allusion to the price of a dose - the formal chemical name is Alpha-PVP - the stuff is similar chemically to "bath salts".
Particularly hard hit is Broward County, a touristy area of south Florida, just north of Miami.
"Broward is much like ground zero for flakka or Alpha-PVP," said Heather Clark of United Way, a charity that is trying to raise awareness of the dangers of the drug.
People generally smoke it, but it can also be injected intravenously or "vaped" - inhaled in vapour form.
"It truly is a very dangerous drug. It's not recreational. It's not something that you can take without adverse side effects," Clark said.
No one knows for certain how flakka got its name. But the Spanish word "flaca" is slang for girlfriend or beautiful girl.
The drug can be purchased over the internet for US$1,500 a kilo. By way of comparison a kilo of cocaine can cost 15 times that or more.
It is sent by mail from China in small quantities, which dealers then distribute, according to a report issued this month by state authorities on drug abuse in Broward County.
Chinese companies also advertise the drug openly on the internet and will mail it directly to your home.
"This is a highly poisonous substance that may have been intentionally designed for longer lasting effects, and specifically to be more addictive, because that's good for sales," said James Hall, an epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University.
Since the drug first appeared on the streets of the county in September, 34 people who took it have died. The drug has existed since the 1960s but its current incarnation, as Hall said, has been turbopowered to make addicts and money fast.
Hospital emergency rooms deal with at least 20 cases a day, said Hall. Authorities say many users mistakenly believe the drug is a mix of crack and heroin; it is neither. Others think it is like cocaine, but it is different and in many ways worse.
Its serious negative effects are many; and authorities say users often are in behavioural crisis faster than it might take on other, costlier substances. Using the drug can cause heart trouble, make people aggressive and paranoid, and in many cases psychotic. A person's body temperature can go up to 40.5 degrees Celsius.
"The victims tear off their clothes, some think their body is on fire. They would run wild through the streets believing they are being chased by people or imaginary wild animals seeking to kill them," said Hall.
In one case, a man ran through his neighbourhood naked, convinced he was being chased by a pack of German Shepherds.
In March, another guy tried to kick in the door of a police station in Fort Lauderdale to escape what he perceived to be an attacker. Days later, a third person died impaled on the fence outside that police station while trying to scale the barrier.
Java Jackson, 26, used flakka on May 25 and died in a matter of hours in the hospital, his aunt Rose Waters said. "This drug is so easy to get. It's so cheap … But it is more deadly than anything else that's out there."


Cheap Chinese-made high dubbed 'US$5 insanity' kills dozens in Florida and makes users psychotic

The drug flakka is often mailed to the US from China.Photo: AFP

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A new synthetic drug, known as flakka, has led to at least 34 deaths and is spreading quickly
