Behold: What are youth using nowadays to get high. Image: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)
Teenagers and youth do stupid things – you’ve done them, I’ve done them – but a new report from India is pushing the limits of our credibility. Allegedly Indian youth are drinking water after boiling flavored condoms to increase height. If this sounds like the 2022 version of Tide Pods or “farm parties” to you, you’re not alone.
Sales of flavored condoms in the city of Durgapur skyrocketed in mid-July, according to CNN-News18, an English-language outlet in India co-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. When a shopkeeper asked a frequent customer why young people suddenly became obsessed with flavored condoms, the young man said that he regularly buys condoms to get high.
The whole practice, if you ask us, seems like a throwback to the outrage and panic that gripped the Internet when we thought many teens were eating Tide pods. Despite widespread media coverage and concern, a very, very small amount of teens actually consumed Tide pods.
Young people believed to be getting higher condoms
how do people get high condoms, Of all things, you ask? In this case, it has been said in the news report that the youth may be boiling condoms in hot water for hours and then drinking the water.
While this may sound completely outlandish, polymer chemistry research scholar Udayan Basak told Vice that it is theoretically possible, although it has not yet been proven in a practical experiment.
To understand better, we have to analyze the components of condoms. Condoms contain the synthetic resin polyurethane, he explained, for durability and stretching purposes. They are made from polyisoprene, which is a component of rubber, and use glycerin to give the products a distinctive flavor.
The key here is polyurethane.
,[I]It is believed that ethylene glycol, a type of alcohol, is formed when polyurethane flavored condoms are broken down after boiling in water and [keeping them aside] For six to eight hours,” Basak said, as reported by Vice.
Experts who spoke to CNN-News18 compared it to the high people get from sniffing gum, which can cause a temporary feeling of euphoria or hallucinations that usually lasts only a few minutes.
However, snuff glue and other inhalants, such as spray paint, markers and cleaning fluid, can cause harmful long-term effects. These include kidney damage, hearing loss, bone marrow damage, loss of coordination, limb spasms and brain damage, as explained by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Inhalant overdose is even more dangerous and can lead to seizures, coma, or even death.
Joydeep Ghosh, an internal medicine consultant in Kolkata, told Vice that similar things can happen when young people drink flavored condom water.
“Drinking this water can lead to intoxication and addiction. If consumed repeatedly, it will have a negative effect on the lungs and kidneys, as well as damage the nervous system of the body,” Ghosh said.
Why you should suspect that teens are drinking condom water to get high
Reports of youth allegedly consuming condom water have been doing the rounds on the Internet in recent days, with motivational articles and scientific explainers like the ones mentioned above. Given that teens were once dipping their balls in soy sauce, it’s possible to believe that teens would boil condoms in search of a high.
It’s not clear whether a teenager is actually doing this very stupid thing. The CNN-News 18 report based its story on the account of a shopkeeper who asked his young customer why condoms were flying off his shelves. And, while it can be great that teen Was using condoms specifically to get high, there just isn’t enough evidence to say whether the recent increase in flavored condom sales can be attributed to this bizarre practice.
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