As consumption rises in Lagos, Kano, other cities
A deadly hallucinogenic drug that turns its addict to a zombie has hit some cities across the country, giving narcotic officials sleepless nights in tracing its source of supply.
Following this development, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have begun to comb suspected areas, including social gatherings and hospitals, in search of clues about the peddlers and addicts of the new drug.
Cities now under the ‘grip’ of the dangerous illicit drug include Kano, Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Abuja. In downtown Lagos for instance, NDLEA operatives are said to have been on the trail of the users of the drug, tracing many of them to big parties and similar social gatherings known to be frequented by fun-seeking school boys and girls for the crystalline white or pink gravel-like substance.
“Users can smoke, snort or inject it into their system. It produces the same effect as ecstasy, “ a toxicologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, who pleaded anonymity, said.
The potency of the apparently strange drug, according to NDLEA officials causes “hallucination, bizarre behaviours, including running amok naked in public.”
Under-cover narcotic officials are also known to be combing hospitals for patients manifesting related symptoms with a view to ascertaining both the source and the presence of the deadly drug capable of causing terrible drain on resources.
Users of the new drug, it was further learnt, “are very aggressive, non-compliant and dangerous. As narcotic officials continue their investigations, there are speculations that the drug involved may be a stimulant made from Alpha-PVP, also known as flakka.”
It is very common nowadays to find aggressive youngsters, who may have been under the influence of the mystery designer drug, at parties, motor parks and other public places.
According to experts, “The drug can cause excited delirium, as shown by violent behaviour, body temperature spikes or hyperthermia, paranoia as well as the feeling of increased strength.”
NDLEA spokesperson, Mitchell Ofoyeju, told our correspondent that the drug causes hysteria.
“Whenever you see people ripping their clothes and running out into the streets violently, they may be under the influence of Flakka. And if users do not receive medical help as soon as possible, they can die,” he said.
Ofoyeju also hinted that Flakka might have been here already, judging from the tons of locally produced illicit drugs impounded daily by the operatives of the agency.
“Some gullible Nigerians now connive with foreigners to produce outlawed drugs. We have been arresting and prosecuting them. Flakka may have been given a different name here. Who knows? Come to think of it. Users not only put their own lives at risk; they also pose a threat to others. This is why we need information from the general public on the illegal activities of the producers, distributors and the consumers alike”, he said.
