Condom joins the list of easily available items for substance abuse, such as drinking cough syrup, hand sanitisers, aftershave lotions, sniffing glue, paints, nail polish, and liquid whiteners. This unusual addiction has been detected in India among students in West Bengal’s Durgapur. Durgapur is a major industrial city in Bengal’s Bardhaman district. It is the fourth largest urban agglomeration after Kolkata, Asansol and Siliguri in Bengal and is a major industrial hub.
Lubricated (LC), lubricated and flavoured (LFC), and lubricated, flavoured and coloured condoms (LFCC) are available in the market with flavours like chocolate, strawberry, banana, apple, pina colada, jasmine, cola and aloe vera. Students are getting addicted to condoms, but not to use them as contraceptives, but rather to get high. The students soak the flavoured condoms in hot water and drink the resultant liquid chemical concoction, which gives them a ‘high’ for periods ranging from 10 to 12 hours.
The long-term soaking of condoms in hot water causes intoxication due to the breakdown of large organic molecules into alcoholic compounds. Condoms contain aromatic compounds. It breaks down to form alcohol, which is addictive. They also contain the synthetic resin polyurethane, for durability and stretching purposes. They are made from polyisoprene, which is a component of rubber, and utilise glycerine to give the products specific flavours. It is believed that ethylene glycol, a kind of alcohol, is produced when the polyurethane breaks down after boiling flavoured condoms in water and keeping them aside for six to eight hours.
While sniffing glue and other inhalants — such as spray paint, markers, and cleaning fluid — can lead to kidney damage, hearing loss, bone marrow damage, loss of coordination, limb spasms, and brain damage, the impact on health caused by drinking flavoured condom water is yet to be researched. Medical professionals believe that it will negatively impact the lungs and kidneys, as well as harm the body’s nervous system.
Condoms contain parabens, glycerine, and/or benzocaine, talc or casein, spermicide nonoxynol-9 c, lambskin, latex, polyurethane, or other synthetic materials such as AT-10 resin and polyisoprene, aloe vera, L-arginine, silicones, nitrosamine, polyethylene glycols, baysilon, surface active agents and synthetic chemical flavourings. Condoms are not regulated in the same way that pharmaceutical drugs are, and there is often a vast disparity in how condom products are labelled. There is also no information as to whether it is made of latex, lambskin, or polyurethane. When these condoms, coated with multiple lubricant components and polydimethylsiloxane are boiled, unknown chemical reactions happen and drinking that liquid concoction of chemicals is fraught with great health risks.
The more critical problem is the diagnosis and treatment for the consumption of such kind of strange materials and substances. A doctor who is treating will be confounded as to what line of treatment to adopt and what antidote to be administered to the addict seeking medical help.
Biochemical analysis and self-reports are the two most commonly used direct methods for assessing substance use. Each has limitations. Biochemical methods, primarily urine analysis, usually detect only recent use and generally cannot measure patterns or frequency of use. Although hair analysis can potentially trace longer-term patterns of use, data on the measurement properties of this analytical technique are still limited. Self-report methods can measure patterns and frequency of drug use but are limited by validity problems. When unusual substances like condoms are heated and liquefied and consumed, diagnosis is often difficult. Equally difficult is management and ensuring proper therapy. Acute poisoning from the consumption of unknown chemicals and in unspecified quantities can create havoc in the human body.
Drug dealers and traffickers have for long been compelling their drug carriers to ingest drugs concealed inside condoms and ingesting them. This practice represents a medical challenge because rupture of the condoms inside the human body will be toxic and lethal, and will result in instantaneous death. Liquid cocaine is poured into sealed condoms and ingested, or concealed inside the rectum and vaginal passage. There are even extra-large condoms in the market which are utilised for carrying large quantities of drugs. Many victims of human trafficking are used to ferry drugs across international borders. Popularly known as carriers or ‘drug mules’, the victims are made to swallow balloons containing illicit drugs and are then transported across international borders. The balloons are made with multi-layered condoms and are often force-fed to the carrier. The traffickers use a special machine to open the condom and put drugs into it. The drug carriers or mules are first given a soup laced with drugs to numb their throats. The soup is very oily and makes the balloons slide down the throat, with least resistance. Sometimes, the carrier’s mouth is sprayed with anaesthesia, enabling them to swallow up to 120 balloons! It is a very painful procedure and can lead to serious injuries in the throat.
During the journey, they are given medication to inhibit bowel movement. Once they have reached their destination, they are fed laxatives and the balloons are ejected through the rectum. But there is also the possibility of stomach acids causing the rupture of the balloons and in such cases, death is very quick.
‘Body packing’ is the term used to denote the smuggling of illicit drugs using the human body as a vehicle. Individual packets of drugs (usually cocaine or heroin) are wrapped in condoms and swallowed. Drug toxicity owing to leaking or rupture of the packets, and intestinal obstruction are common problems encountered, for which medical assistance is imperative. Once they reach their destination, these balloons are ejected with the help of laxatives. If caught by enforcement agencies, the carriers have to undergo a medical examination, involving the use of x-rays, CAT scan and MRI scan and goods retrieved from the carrier’s body, under medical supervision, after observing legal formalities.
Nigerian drug lords are reportedly maintaining an army of ‘swallowers’ who are capable of swallowing up to 150 condoms at a time! Smuggling drugs in body cavities is extremely dangerous despite improvements in condom technology. However, drug smuggling remains rampant, and the use of condoms continues in different parts of the world.
Fear of legal action and imprisonment is making students switch to unconventional substances, that can give an exotic ‘high’. Interestingly, there is no provision in law to book the students consuming flavoured condom water as there is no relevant regulation in the Indian Penal Code.
The author is IRS (Rtd), Ph.D. (Narcotics), Former Director General, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics (NACIN). Views expressed are personal.
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