Children in Indonesia have found a strange way to get high by taking to boiling sanitary products in water and drinking the fluid in order to get a kick. Many children are reportedly taking to this bizarre way to try and get a buzz.
Several police forces in Indonesia have reported numerous cases of this bizarre practice. The children all face a chance of catching something given how unhygienic the whole process is. It has been reported that once they boil sanitary products such as used tampons and sanitary pads and drink the liquid, the users gets high and feels like they are flying. People have also reported that the mixture can cause hallucinations.
According to a representative from the National Narcotics Agency, Senior Commander Suprinarto shared that the presence of chlorine in the mixture is what causes the high and gives the user the reported effects. He shared with Straits News, "The used pads they took from the trash were put in boiling water. After it cooled down, they drank it together". The whole process is neither against the law nor illegal.
However, many teenagers have been arrested for using the strange practice though it is not known whether they were ever charged. Indonesia has very strict laws and a zero tolerance policy towards drugs.
An Indonesian advocate for safe drinking, Jimy Ginting, shared that this is not a new phenomenon and claims that teenagers around Indonesia have also been arrested for very similar charges. As reported by the Jakarta Post, he said, "I don't know who started it all, but I knew it started around two years ago. There is no law against it so far. There is no law against these kids using a mixture of mosquito repellent and cold syrup to get drunk."
