Teenagers 'bagging' mothballs to get high

**voivod** · 07.27.06, 10:33 AM

Practice of inhaling, chewing, is probably underreported, journal says

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) -- The 18-year-old French woman was hospitalized with scaly skin on her legs and hands, appearing unsteady and mentally sluggish, doctors said.

They found the condition puzzling, especially since the woman's twin sister displayed similar, but less severe, symptoms and there was no family history of the problem, the doctors reported in this week's New England Journal of Medicine that

Several days later, doctors discovered the cause: a bag of mothballs stashed in her hospital room.

The teenagers had been using the mothballs to get high, inhaling air from the bag for about 10 minutes a day because classmates had recommended it. The sicker of the young women also had been chewing half a mothball a day for two months.

The doctors described the high as "dangerous" and most likely under-reported in medical literature.

The teenager told the doctors that she continued to use the mothballs during her hospitalization "because she thought her symptoms were not related to her habit," said Lionel Feuillet at the Hospital of Timone in Marseille, France.

Mothballs, used to prevent moth larva from getting into clothing, contain paradichlorobenzene, a substance also found in air fresheners and insect repellents that can cause liver and kidney failure, and severe anemia.

The discovery comes at a time when teenagers are increasingly experimenting with legal drugs such as OxyContin, widely known as "hillbilly heroin," and Vicodin, often bought online or taken from medicine cabinets, even before trying marijuana or alcohol, health officials say.

The sicker of the women took six months to recover fully. Her twin, who had only been "bagging" for a few weeks, recovered after three months.

Feuillet told Reuters that a cleaning lady discovered the mothballs in the drawer of the patient's night table.

When the woman was asked what she was doing with the bag, "she showed us how she used to breathe directly into the mothballs bag," Feuillet said.

Although only three cases of getting high with paradichlorobenzene have been reported in medical literature, "since young people usually deny practicing self-intoxication, the incidence of this type of recreational activity is probably underestimated," Feuillet and his colleagues said in the Journal.

**chefcraig** · 07.27.06, 10:43 AM

And last year people were going to the garden shop at K Mart and getting a certain type of seed to get high.

Smelling moth balls...how do you get their little legs apart?

**avhevhmashdlr** · 07.27.06, 10:48 AM

wow...stuff that i can do with supplies at work!!!! how fun!!!!

**seenbad** · 07.27.06, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by chefcraig

Smelling moth balls...how do you get their little legs apart?

lol

**ZeoBandit** · 07.27.06, 11:32 AM

At least they are not shagging the moth balls.

**LLFHS** · 07.27.06, 06:51 PM

Christ, has it become that fuckin hard to just smoke weed and drink like a normal teenager?

**avhevhmashdlr** · 07.27.06, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by LowLifeFlatHeadScum

Christ, has it become that fuckin hard to just smoke weed and drink like a normal teenager?

yes, apparently it has. and as a teenager, i must say this: people, older than 21, EXPECT us to drink, smoke pot (or, well, whatever), and all that. we must make it less obvious than that. so, we turn to moth balls, which are pretty stinky, to get "high".

**Axxman300** · 07.27.06, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by avhevhmashdlr

yes, apparently it has. and as a teenager, i must say this: people, older than 21, EXPECT us to drink, smoke pot (or, well, whatever), and all that. we must make it less obvious than that. so, we turn to moth balls, which are pretty stinky, to get "high".

There's a difference between smoking weed and inhailing toxic gases. That's not a "High", it's brain and nervous system damage. People who smoke a lot of pot tend to move to Seattle and live in a paranoid state where the Bush family is at the root of all the evil in the world. People who huff, tend to live the last part of their short lives needing to wear adult diapers with the mental capacity of a 4 year old.

If you feel you need to get high, take up long distance running. Same as being a coke-head, you'll loose weight, look at your watch a lot and you'll find any excuse to get out and run. Plus, it will put you through college.

**avhevhmashdlr** · 07.27.06, 08:57 PM

Originally Posted by Axxman300

.

If you feel you need to get high, take up long distance running.

i'd rather sit on my ass, listen to some kick ass tunes, and relax. thats my "high"!

**Texas Poundcake** · 07.27.06, 09:05 PM

Geesh... I should have spent more time at grandma's when I was a teen!

**smithjc** · 07.28.06, 12:30 AM

Jeez mothballs for criminy sake? Those are so gross!

Kids today. I swear.

**cyberfiddl** · 07.28.06, 01:42 AM

__}

Make it legal.

**janthraxx** · 07.28.06, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by chefcraig

And last year people were going to the garden shop at K Mart and getting a certain type of seed to get high.

Morning Glory?

Anyone who sucks on mothballs hasn't yet discovered the glory of snorting rabbit turds.

**ZORBA5150** · 07.28.06, 02:50 PM

I never did it, but I had some friends back in the day, who inhaled frion (sp?) from the back of AC units. That's just wrong.

Then there's whippits.- Hippie crack. I did a lot of that back in my day. It was really stupid, and I wouldn't go near those today.

All that shit is bad for you, but weed and beer are the least of your worries, that's for sure.