Parents who have worked hard to keep their kids off of substances like marijuana or narcotics now have a new addiction to worry about–digital music downloads that can reportedly induce feelings of extreme ecstasy and alter the listener’s brain patterns to simulate a drug-induced high.
The phenomenon, which is being referred to as “i-Dosing,” was first reported by Oklahoma News 9 last week and has since been reported on by several media outlets worldwide.
According to Ryan Single of Wired.com, i-dosing “involves finding an online dealer who can hook you up with ‘digital drugs’ that get you high through your headphones”¦ I-dosing involves donning headphones and listening to ‘music’–largely a droning noise–which the sites peddling the sounds promise will get you high. Teens are listening to such tracks as ‘Gates of Hades,’ which is available on YouTube gratis (yes, the first one is always free).”
Daniel Bates of the Daily Mail Online notes that several videos have been posted on sites, including YouTube, which “show a young girl freaking out and leaping up in fear, a teenager shaking violently and a young boy in extreme distress”¦ Those who come up with the ‘doses’ claim different tracks mimic different sensations you can feel by taking drugs such as Ecstasy or smoking cannabis.”
It may sound unusual, but the i-dosing phenomenon has captured the attention of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, which has released a statement warning kids not to partake of the supposedly mind-altering MP3s and videos.
“Kids are going to flock to these sites just to see what it is about and it can lead them to other places,” Mark Woodward, a spokesman with the group, told Bates on Wednesday. “We want parents to be aware of what sites their kids are visiting and not just dismiss this as something harmless on the computer”¦ If you want to reach these kids, save these kids and keep these kids safe, parents have to be aware. They’ve got to take action.”
Not everyone is buying into the dangers of this current craze, however.
Dave Pell of Gizmodo is one of the skeptics. In a July 21 blog entry entitled, “Parents, Your Kids Aren’t Getting High i-Dosing MP3s,” Pell writes, “So let me get this straight. Kids are putting on some headphones, lying down and cranking some really monotonous music and that’s supposed to be the internet-era drug we should worry about?”
“That’s like worrying that a crack addict is drinking too much decaf,” he adds, adding that information and technology overload are more pressing concerns. “What we now call i-dosing are sounds previously known as binaural beats that have been used for research and sleep therapy. What’s amazing is that these beats are suddenly being viewed as something dangerous or even as an [illicit] drug”¦ If i-dosing means putting on your headphones and being alone in your head for a few minutes at a time, then it sounds more like a cure than a disease.”
—
On the Net:
Comments