People walking down the street with a hollow look and a state of psychosis. It is the order of the day in the west of Brabant, says councilor Joey van Aken from Bergen op Zoom. Cause? ‘Zombie drug’ flakka. To put an end to this as quickly as possible, the mayors of eight municipalities in that region sent an urgent letter to the Senate on Wednesday. “It’s super sad.”
“This is the epicenter in the field of flakka use,” says Van Aken. This so-called designer drug has been on the rise in recent years. This is due to several factors. For example, flakka is relatively cheap, easily available and highly addictive. The drug is officially banned, but a legal variant is being made.
And that is what the letter from the eight West Brabant mayors is about. The House of Representatives recently voted in favor of an amendment to the Opium Act, which will ban a lot of additional substances in one fell swoop. This also includes the resources with which the various variants of flakka are now made. With the letter, the municipalities are now urging the Senate to also deal with the law quickly.
Why is it such a problem in the west of Brabant? “We can only guess,” Van Aken muses. “It may have to do with our location. But at the same time we see that it is spreading like wildfire in the Netherlands, but also across the border in Belgium.”
“For example, recently someone thought the construction workers across the street were secret agents.”
Alex van Dongen of addiction care institution Novadic-Kentron has an explanation for the problems in the area. “If you look at old reports, you will see that GHB use was greatest in that region at the time. The popularity of flakka also arose somewhat in that group. With drug addicts you often see that in addition to a downer as GHB, also one upper to use. Flakka turns out to be such a strong one upper.”
Van Dongen would also like to add some nuance to the image that often exists of flakka users. “We know the videos from America, in which people act like total zombies. I talk to users every week, but I have never experienced anything like this. However, they do become extremely paranoid. For example, recently someone thought that the construction workers across the street were secret agents who had to keep an eye on him.”
“The odors they emitted led to nausea, dizziness and headaches.”
In Bergen op Zoom, flakka use already caused a concrete problem. “We had a so-called cold weather scheme for the homeless this year,” Van Aken explains. “If the perceived temperature drops below a certain point, everyone would be welcome there. But in practice, the flakka users posed a danger to the other visitors and employees there. The odors they emitted led to nausea, dizziness and headaches. As a result, we have must stop providing shelter for them.”
A measure they would rather have avoided. And so Van Aken’s hopes are now pinned on the members of the Senate. “It’s super sad to see. When I cycle around Bergen op Zoom, I see people walking around with motor problems, a crazy look in their eyes… It’s the order of the day. They just need to be helped.”
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You can read here which municipalities have signed up to the fire letter