Buzz
We live in a bizarre and unsettling world. Just take a look around, folks—even drug users are becoming stranger by the day! Gone are the days when a bunch of long-haired hippies dropped acid and tried to communicate with faeries. The era of yuppies snorting pricey cocaine in high-end bar restrooms across major cities has passed. No longer do deadheads stay up until dawn listening to dance music, hugging each other, and tripping on ecstasy. Now, teenagers are finding new and confusing ways to tweak their minds. Even good old-fashioned alcohol is no longer in vogue.
10. Pharming Parties
In the past, a group of teenage friends might invite you to a house party, expecting you to bring a little something extra—booze. Sometimes they would even accept a good-looking “plus one” or, for the more rebellious types, some marijuana. But not anymore. These days, the gift of choice seems to be pretty much anything you can swipe from your parents' medicine cabinet.
These gatherings are referred to as “pharming parties,” “pharm parties,” or “punch bowl parties.” Once everyone arrives, all the stolen pills are tossed into a bowl, mixed up, and then consumed by the handful by any teenager willing to gamble with their health in search of a high. Recently, the use of illegal hard drugs like heroin and cocaine among teens has decreased, giving way to the abuse of legal prescription medications. The problem with these parties isn't necessarily the types of pills being consumed (often stress relievers, attention aids, or mild painkillers), but the uncertain dosages and the reckless mixing of various pills, which can be dangerous or even deadly. How can anyone be sure of what they’re ingesting? A few too many painkillers combined with tranquilizers could land you in a coma. This trend seems mostly (if not exclusively) to be a phenomenon in the US, but it wouldn’t take much for America’s pharming party boom to evolve into a worldwide crisis.
9. ‘Bath Salts’
If you start snorting your grandmother’s lavender-scented bath salts, all you’ll get is a pleasant-smelling nose. However, if you start inhaling a particular class of drugs known on the street as “bath salts,” you might end up eating your own feces and picking fights with law enforcement officers. The term “bath salts” is used to refer to various legal and illegal designer drugs that can be bought on websites, in head shops, or from your local dealer. The exact chemical makeup of most of these substances is unknown, making them both potentially hazardous and highly addictive. They are deceptively marketed as “plant feeders,” “computer screen cleaner,” or, more blatantly, “bath salts.”
These drugs are designed to replicate the effects of stimulant drugs like cocaine and meth. “Bath salts” also produce many of the harmful side effects associated with the drugs they mimic, such as paranoia, insomnia, suicidal thoughts, and high blood pressure. The danger with these ever-evolving drugs lies in their unclear legal status worldwide. Once one version is banned, a simple tweak to its chemical structure creates a new, legal, potentially dangerous drug. Whether you believe all narcotics should be banned or that full legalization and regulation would end such risky experimentation, one thing is clear—bath salts are bad news, period.
8. Sisa
Greece is currently in a difficult situation (they might as well relocate their politicians back to the ruins of the Parthenon), and when people face financial hardship, they tend to find any way possible to cut costs—including the expensive drug habits they may have.
Cocaine is extremely costly—so much so that the average Greek drug user can’t even afford a gram of the pricey white powder. Drug addicts in other countries often resort to crime, stealing from the more fortunate. But in Greece, no one has money—enter sisa, the new miracle drug. It’s a fraction of the price of cocaine, its effects hit quicker, the high lasts longer, and (best of all) it gives users such intense aggression that they’ll feel like tearing the heads off marble statues until dawn. Oh wait, that last part is actually a terrifying side effect observed in homeless users of the drug. Reports of users brutally assaulting people, gangs of users raping women, and other instances of psychotic behavior are widespread in downtown Athens.
Some of the extreme behavior associated with overuse of this drug may be exaggerated or just an urban legend aimed at discouraging people from using it, but what is certain is that sisa is also known to cause numerous ulcers. In conclusion, it’s a truly dreadful drug.
7. Purple Drank
Remember the iconic episode of *The Simpsons* called “Flaming Moe’s,” where Homer creates a magical drink by mixing random ingredients from his kitchen, only to have Moe steal the recipe and make it famous? Well, in this fictional world, Homer could have been considered a drug dealer! In reality, if he were to make his mysterious concoction today, he’d be brewing what’s known as ‘purple drank.’ This concoction, which rots your teeth and brain, is made by combining cough syrup with soda—usually Sprite or fruit juice. The cough syrup’s food coloring gives the drink its purple hue, thus earning it its nickname.
Purple drank gained popularity in Houston, Texas, and in the underground hip-hop scene back in the 1960s. DJ Screw played a huge role in its rise, and it is even said to have influenced the ‘chopped and screwed’ style of hip-hop. Much like LSD’s connection to the hippie rock movement or speed’s association with London’s punk scene, purple drank became a staple among Southern hip-hop fans. The syrup contains promethazine, a CNS-depressing antihistamine, which, when mixed with soda, can cause severe respiratory and cardiac arrest. One of the most well-known fatalities tied to purple drank was DJ Screw, who died in 2006 from a combination of alcohol, Codeine, and promethazine overdose.
6. Smoking Alcohol
Aside from describing military deserters, 'AWOL' is also an acronym for 'alcohol without liquid.' It refers to a device that gained popularity in 2004, which allows people to get drunk without drinking alcohol. This alcohol nebulizer has since been banned in many countries and several states in the U.S. When using the AWOL nebulizer, users inhale ethanol vapors directly, bypassing the non-alcoholic components of a drink and theoretically avoiding the calories found in sugary mixers and cocktails, simply to achieve the desired buzz.
Apart from the increased risk of alcohol poisoning, inhaling alcohol this way also prevents the body from triggering the natural response to vomit, which is the quickest method of eliminating excess alcohol. While it's unlikely that this trend will catch on, if it does, we may soon face a deadly new health issue. Let's hope this trend fades away like 'Chocolate Rain.'
5. Ayahuasca
Ah, the magnificent Amazon! A place teeming with wonders—a vast river, endless rainforests, and majestic creatures of the jungle. Truly, it feels like paradise—if you disregard the multi-billion-dollar drug trade, the violent paramilitary groups kidnapping anyone they can find, the dynamite fishermen, poachers, and illegal loggers. Amidst all this chaos, one remarkable product from this lush Eden has taken the world of psychonauts by storm: ayahuasca. Just hearing the name evokes images of tribal shamans soaring above the canopy, accompanied by bird-like gods... but you're far more likely to experience that vision by drinking this brew than just by reading the name.
Ayahuasca is quite the trend these days. Sting experienced it in the '90s, and now forward-thinking hipster bands like The Bees have traveled to Peru to embark on spiritual quests in search of life's meaning—or perhaps just to confront their personal doubts. This concoction made from jungle plants is highly praised, yet remains illegal in most Western nations. Why? Well, who knows? Altered states of consciousness can be unsettling: sometimes for the user, and almost always for society. If you can't predict the inner workings of someone's mind, how can you be sure they won’t start wreaking havoc in public spaces? That’s how various governments approach potent hallucinogens like ayahuasca. While the long-term effects remain uncertain, many say the short-term experiences are nothing short of life-altering. But if ayahuasca inspired Sting to explore lute music, maybe it should remain prohibited forever.
4. GHB
In May 2013, Vancouver police arrived at a local venue to find around 100 partygoers milling about outside after a night of dancing and drinking. However, three individuals were in a much worse state—curled up on the ground, unresponsive, and foaming at the mouth. A 14-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy, and a 20-year-old man had overdosed on the popular yet dangerous party drug GHB (also known as 'liquid ecstasy'). In high doses, GHB can induce comas, which is why it’s often used as a date rape drug. The lethal risks of combining excessive amounts of GHB and alcohol are well-documented—it's a fast track to death. And the margin between the right amount of GHB for a high and enough to knock you out for hours, possibly stopping your heart, is razor-thin (and varies from person to person).
The three individuals in Vancouver were discharged from the hospital after only a few hours, but the toll from the abuse of this potent knockout drug is far more severe, with many fatalities tied to its misuse. If a drug’s side effects include coma, severe mouth burns, and frothing at the mouth, one has to question— is it really worth it?
3. Flashblooding
We’ve already covered some outrageous drug crazes, but none quite match the sheer madness of flashblooding. The premise is disturbingly simple: flashblooders steal blood from a drugged-out addict, usually while they’re asleep, and inject it into their own veins. So, it's either an act of recklessness on a level that defies reason or just plain insane.
This practice isn’t just dangerously reckless for obvious health reasons (who knows what diseases you could contract), but there’s also scant evidence suggesting flashblooding even produces a high. The amount of blood taken is typically less than a teaspoon—hardly enough to get a real effect. You’d need to replace most of your own blood with theirs to feel any change, and at that point, sniffing random dollar bills might be just as effective. Some users claim to feel a mild high or even pass out after flashblooding, but these reports are more likely a result of the placebo effect—though a particularly foolish one. This bizarre trend has been reported in places like Zanzibar, Kenya, and Tanzania—regions already notorious for their high HIV rates, making this the pinnacle of modern-day absurd drug fads.
2. Yaba
For the addict who needs something stronger than a morning cup of coffee, there's 'yaba'—a tablet combining methamphetamine and caffeine. Known as 'madness drugs' in Thai, this pill has been around since the 1940s, when the Nazi regime used it to keep their troops alert and, in some cases, hallucinating during long marches across Europe. From those who brought us Zyklon-B gas showers came this dangerous 'stay awake' pill. Thailand took it and rechristened it 'yaba.' While its use as a party drug may have declined in the East, its popularity as an import is growing worldwide. It's almost a certainty that right-wing extremist groups, including neo-Nazi factions, will start embracing yaba if they haven’t already. After all, what’s more edgy than using the same drug that fueled Nazi soldiers?
Its effects mirror those of methamphetamine, with a hint of heroin mixed in. Regular users often stay awake for days, caught in a haze of euphoria and occasional hallucinations. But the consequences of yaba use are severe—insomnia, appetite loss, convulsions, suicidal thoughts, and the sensation of insects crawling under your skin. And let’s just say, the stories about yaba are far from pleasant; they’re downright harrowing.
1. Whoonga
Most illegal drugs are often mixed with some pretty questionable substances. For example, cocaine is commonly cut with ingredients like baking soda, baby laxative, and corn starch. But South Africa's street drug of choice, whoonga, takes adulteration to a whole new level. It's a bizarre concoction that blends marijuana with detergent powder, which is already troubling enough. Then, to stretch the high, powerful anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs—intended to fight AIDS—are added, creating a potentially disastrous narcotic. ARVs are often distributed for free by South African clinics to combat the AIDS epidemic.
The inclusion of life-saving ARV drugs in whoonga has led to a disturbing rise in crimes against those who receive the medication from clinics. The desperate need for ARVs has driven many whoonga users and dealers to intentionally contract HIV so they can regularly obtain the drugs without resorting to violence. The very medicines meant to help those in need have tragically become the catalyst for further harm. If that weren't grim enough, the drug is also rumored to contain rat poison, making it even more dangerous.
