Embalming Fluid the New High

A chemical used to preserve the dead is becoming an increasingly popular drug for teenagers and young adults looking for a new and different high. Amp, clickem, crazy eddie, drank, fry, illy, purple rain, wack, wet, and wet daddy known to the average person as embalming fluid is the newest drug craze that is hitting the streets in the United States.

Embalming fluid’s main purpose is to slow the decomposition of the dead. Mainly found in morgues and funeral homes. The fluid involves the injection of chemicals into the body through the blood vessels for preservation of the body. The following compounds are found in embalming fluid, formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol or ethyl alcohol. In embalming fluid products, the percentage of formaldehyde can range from 5 to 29 percent; ethyl alcohol content can vary from 9 to 56 percent. Ethyl alcohol is also a central nervous system depressant.

The drug can be sold on the street from twenty dollars to thirty-five dollars. Users are buying the fluid and dipping their marijuana joints or blunts in the fluid, letting the joint or blunt dry then smoking it . Most of the users don’t know that somewhere along the dealing process that the embalming fluid is being laced with PCP. So while most users think they are smoking marijuana dipped in embalming fluid they are getting an extra high from the unknown PCP. It is important to note that the PCP is not a normal compound in embalming fluid. Embalming fluid is generally consumed in small groups of three to five and smoked. The embalming fluid may enhance absorption by slowing the rate at which the marijuana burns.

It has been reported that the actual smoking of embalming fluid is not very pleasant. It has been said that it taste like rubbing alcohol and smells like gasoline. The high last between six hours to thirty hours and the acute symptoms of intoxication usually subside in twenty-four to thirty-six hours depending of the half-lives of the drugs used in a particular mixture. The drug can be stored in fats and then released, causing recurrence of symptoms .

The short term effects of using embalming fluid are as follows; blurred vision or impaired vision which is a symptom that begins at the high and endures into the next day. Headache that follows the day after consumption. Increased forgetfulness, vomiting, depression or sadness, facial or bodily edema, anger, frustration, hallucinations, delusions, increase in women’s sexual appetites, paranoia, physical violence and sleepiness. While high on embalming fluid it is reported that many users see very colorful images, such as purple clouds, red trees and light pink or yellow dots .

The long term effects of using embalming fluid are serious conditions that can result in death. Users have been known to mutter to themselves and walk in bizarre fashions. The embalming fluid accumulates in the spinal cord and makes the back break down and stops the maturation process. Additional long term effects also include high fever, heart attacks, high blood pressure, kidney failure, destruction of muscle tissue, brain damage, coma, convulsions, chronic coughing, pneumonia and anorexia. Overdose can lead to brain damage where the user is placed in a mental health or mental retardation facilities and death may occur.

The use of embalming fluid as a means of getting high is a growing public health concern. The majority of reports concerning the use and dealing of embalming fluid has been from major U.S. cities but use is also seen in small communities. The major cities include; Chicago, IL. , Cleveland, OH., Hartford