People, especially the youth, have been encouraged to practice safe sex. Although sales of flavored condoms have recently skyrocketed in Durgapur, India, it isn't for the reasons we think. Young people are using flavored condoms to get intoxicated. Not only is the trend bizarre, but it is also dangerous for their health.
Condom Intoxication: The Trend and the Risks
In a bizarre new craze, the youth in Durgapur reportedly get intoxicated for 10 to 12 hours after using flavored condoms. Officials in the Indian province are concerned about the recent surge in demand for condoms.
Local shopkeepers say that before the surge, they would only sell three to four packets a day, and today, hardly any flavored condoms are stacked on the shelves.
DailyStar reports that young people in the province will soak the contraceptives in hot water for hours before drinking them, getting them intoxicated.
This is hardly the first time young people have used new means of getting intoxicated. To this day, cough syrup, glue, paint, whiteners, nail polish, and other household items continue to be the substance of choice for many.
Dheeman Mandal from the Durgapur Fivisional Hospital tells News18 that condoms contain various aromatic compounds which break down to form alcohol compounds. The compounds are addictive and can also be found in dendrites glue; a substance also used to get intoxicated.
Nurul Haque, a Durgapur RE College Model School Chemistry teacher, explains that soaking the flavored condoms in hot water for a long period causes intoxication due to the breakdown of large organic molecules.
Bizarre Trends: Condom Snorting
As strange as it may sound, using condoms to get intoxicated isn't an entirely new trend. In the past young people have also used contraceptives to participate in a bizarre and hazardous trend.
Videos posted on social media a few years back showed teens inhaling condoms up their noses and pulling them out of their mouths. Not only is the practice disgusting, but it also puts people at risk.
In a 2017 interview, Dr. David Hiltzik, the director of Otolaryngology at Staten Island University Hospital, New York, told LiveScience that it generally is not a good idea to put anything in the nose that does not belong there.
Additionally, not only does inhaling condoms pose a danger of choking, buyt Dr. Bruce Lee, associate professor of international health at Johns Hopkins Bloomber School of Public Health, but the contraceptive can also get londged in the nose or throat, blocking breathing, and causing choking.
In 2004, doctors in India reported a case where a 27-year-old woman developed pneumonia and collapsed long after she unexpectedly inhaled a condom.
Whether using hot water-drenched condoms to get "high" or snorting the contraceptive, it promotes an unnecessary risk to the lives and health of the young. Since these aren't its intended purposes, the youth should be informed of the many threats it poses to their health as well as other substances.
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