Flakka... the drug more terrifying than ice

A hardcore stimulant that is undetectable by ­roadside drug tests is ­expected to hit NSW soon, with mining and trucking companies already checking their employees.

• Judges go soft on ice dealers and drug traffickers
• Special Feature: Australia’s drug epidemic

A DRUG that experts say is “more terrifying than ice” and is undetectable by ­roadside drug tests is ­expected to hit NSW soon, with mining and trucking companies already testing their employees.

Several mining companies and a large-scale trucking business are among the first in NSW to request their employees be tested for the new designer drug called “flakka”, a hardcore stimulant also known on the streets as ‘‘gravel’’ or by its chemical name “a-PVP’’.

Flakka....More terrifying than ice

It has been seized in other states and proliferated across the US and Europe over the past year. The drug creates a state of “excited delirium” for users causing hyperstimulation, paranoia, and hallucinations.

It is tipped to cause more chaos than the recent methamphetamine scourge if it becomes widely available here.

Safework Laboratories national marketing director Andrew Leibie told The Daily Telegraph he had ­already been approached by several major employers to test their staff for the dangerous drug.

Concerns... Police Minister Troy Grant

Tests... Safe Work Laboratories’ Andrew Leibie

New data shows that judges went soft on dealers and traffickers just as the current tidal wave of ice poured across the state.

Mr Leibie said one of major dangers of flakka was that it could not be detected on an average workplace or police roadside drug test, but could be identified if urine samples were sent to a laboratory for a more comprehensive analysis.

He said while he was yet to record a positive result in NSW, it could have particularly devastating ­results if used by people operating heavy machinery.

It follows the country’s first ­recorded death from flakka in the state’s Illawarra region in 2014.