Silent March Held For Victims of Flakka in Fort Lauderdale

According to the Broward County, Florida Drug Epidemiology Network Annual Report, Broward County has experienced 32 flakka-related deaths since September 2014. Of those 32 deaths, half have taken place in the last five weeks.

Rose Waters, 57, recently lost her 26-year-old nephew to flakka. Waters nephew, Java Jackson died on Memorial Day at Broward Health Medical Center and reportedly had flakka in his system according to Waters.

This past Thursday, June 18th, Waters joined about 100 people to participate in a silent March for those who have become addicted to flakka or died as a result of using flakka. “I’m here because I wanted to bring awareness to the fact that this drug is deadly,” said Waters. “To me it is the worst drug ever.”

Fort Lauderdale police, local faith-based organizations, The United way Commission on Substance Abuse and Broward Addiction Recovery Center, were the hosts of the silent march which lasted about 90 minutes.

Officers on foot, horses, and in police cruisers, escorted the marchers which included toddlers, teens, and adults. The half-mile march started at Fort Lauderdale Police Department and ended at a nearby Fort Lauderdale bus depot. Waters and other participants carried a variety of signs, one stating “Stop the Madness.” At the conclusion of the march, the marchers gathered together and lead a series of prayers.

The pack of marchers was lead by a Broward Crime Stoppers mobile billboard advertising up to $3,00 for any tips that would lead to arrests of persons dealing flakka. Since the campaign first initiated in early May, Crime Stoppers has received a total of 52 tips related to flakka dealers, says executive director Ralph Page, who also participated in the march.

Paul Faulk Jr., division director for Broward Addiction Recovery Center and participant in the march said that his center began seeing flakka cases starting in September, and the number of patients treated for flakka rose from one person to about 40 people a month. “So when you see someone having those episodes, running around naked, screaming…well, guess what, that’s the person saying, ‘I can’t take it. I’m on overload, and I’m dying.'” said Faulk.
Authorities are currently working to keep the rapidly growing flakka epidemic under control, however it hasn’t been very easy. “This is a problem the police department is not going to be able to solve on its own,” said Fort Lauderdale police Captain Dana Swisher.

 

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