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Bath salt drugs have a similar chemical structure to Flakka. The primary ingredient in bath salts -- but not Flakka -- has been banned. DEA

Men are arrested every day for the mundane crimes of resisting arrest or even assaulting police. But an increase in Florida of the sorts of crimes 41-year-old Kenneth Crowder of Melbourne was arrested for on Friday -- being naked, proclaiming he was God and attempting to have sex with a tree -- can be traced to a growing South Florida phenomenon. Crowder was high on Flakka, also known as "gravel" or "$5 insanity," a new synthetic street drug that's taken the place of so-called bath salts, to which it's chemically similar. (Bath salt drugs got the name because of their resemblance to Epsom salts.)

In 2011, the government banned the primary ingredients in bath salts, the amphetamine-like drug that often produces psychotic delusions in those who smoke, snort or inject it -- but Flakka's similar ingredients have yet to be banned. As a result, there were 670 cases involving Flakka in 2014, up from zero cases in 2010, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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Flakka has captured another user: Kenneth Crowder, who was arrested Friday, April 10, was finally subdued and arrested after he was reported for being naked, trying to have sexual relations with a tree, and then stabbing a police officer with his own badge. Photo: Brevard County Sheriff’s Office

Police in Melbourne, which is southeast of Orlando, were alerted to Crowder when bystanders reported a man running around naked and yelling he was God, "before committing a sexual act on a tree," according to Click Orlando. When a police officer arrived, Crowder was clothed, but fought back when he was tased -- twice -- even grabbing the police officer's badge and stabbing him with it. Once the officer had reinforcements, Crowder was punched in the face and handcuffed. He was booked into Brevard County Jail, posted bond and was released, reported Click Orlando.

Flakka raises users' body temperature to dangerous levels, often prompting them to disrobe and hallucinate that people are chasing them and wanting to kill them. "Zombie-like" is the oft-used descriptor of those on Flakka.

"We have spoken to some medical professionals here and they are starting to see an increase in its use here," said Cmdr. Dan Lynch, spokesman for the Melbourne Police Department, reported Florida Now. "It's already in South Florida and we think it's coming here."

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