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Drug mix of meth, bug spray called 'wasp' leads to Tennessee man's rampage and arrest

Posted at 8:16 AM, Dec 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-28 13:18:13-05

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Tennessee — A poisonous product intended to destroy bugs is an ingredient in a drug called "wasp," which a Tennessee burglary suspect admitted to smoking before he committed the crime.

"Wasp" was in the system of Danny Hollis Jr., 35, when he was arrested after a violent and destructive rampage. Police said the man was high on wasp when he broke into a random home Dec. 18, ransacked the place and then attempted to slash his own throat at the family's dinner table in front of a mother and four children.

While trying to escape, police said Hollis got tangled in barbed wire, then climbed a tree and stripped off all his clothes. That's where he was when police arrived and took him into custody.

Hollis admitted to police he had smoked wasp, and he faces a long list of charges, WTVF in Nashville reports.

Deputies said in jail, Hollis could not recall any of the events that took place.

"Wasp" is a mixture of methamphetamine and bug spray. Bug spray is also used to make a "hot shot" — a high-inducing product in which the drug creator puts the bug spray on a screen wire and hooks it up to a battery charger to heat it, which crystalizes it. It's then melted down to be shot into a person's veins.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse in 2017 warned of varying emerging drug trends, such as fentanyl being mixed with cocaine and new fentanyl analogues not approved for use in humans or animals.

Read more about NIDA's statistics and trends around meth and other street drugs.