Young people in Durgapur, West Bengal use flavored condoms to get high without being aware of the health hazards.

Increased demand for condoms to get “high”; awareness of the health risks.

According to a source mentioned by News18 Bangla, when flavour-infused condoms are soaked in hot water, an alcoholic chemical is released. Students who consume this mixture feel euphoric for roughly 10–12 hours.

Following reports that certain young people in the Durgapur district of West Bengal are using flavoured condoms to become drunk, the demand for these products has suddenly increased in many areas.

According to reports, the local government worries about the sudden rise in condom demand.

The stock of flavoured condoms is quickly depleted from the medical stores in the City Centre, Benachiti, Muchipara, Bidhannagar, C Zone, and A Zone in the Durgapur district as soon as it comes.

When a store owner enquired as to the cause of the sudden rise in demand for flavoured condoms, it was learned that some teenagers were becoming addicted to them. When he asked a young man who frequented his store, he replied that he frequently purchases condoms to become drunk. The store owner claimed that whereas he used to only sell 3 to 4 packets of condoms daily, his whole stock is gone as soon as it enters the store.

What is it about condoms that are “intoxicating”?

A chemical professor claims that submerging condoms in hot water for an extended period dissolves giant organic molecules and produces alcohol compounds. The youth are being kept drunk by this substance.

The intoxicating substance in condoms is an aromatic chemical. In addition, this substance can be found in dendrites, another substance that is frequently used to elicit intoxication. Dendrite use is widespread and primarily among young people, and it is thought to be the wrong way to get high.

Additional intoxicants

When it comes to intoxication, people make strange decisions. Drinking cough syrup, sniffing glue and other industrial adhesives, breathing paint and nail polish, and inhaling whiteners are a few unusual ones.

Even many people have become inebriated after using hand sanitiser and aftershave.

The health risks

These substances cause significant health problems in young people, including chest pain and chronic headaches.

The worst thing is that these people are so dependent on these intoxicants that they eventually start utilizing them as a treatment for their illnesses. Their reliance on addictions grows as a result.

Gasoline, glue, spray paint, solvents, cleaning agents, and other aerosols are often inhaled. Huffing, bagging, and sniffing or snorting is part of the usage behaviour. The euphoria experienced when using inhalants is heightened by the hypercapnia and hypoxia brought on by rebreathing from a closed bag. According to a 2011 study by researchers at the Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, India, and Department of Psychiatry, Mental Health Institute, SCB Medical College, Cuttack, Odisha, India, adolescents who meet the criteria for dependence or abuse report coexisting delinquent behaviours, multiple drug abuse and dependence, and use mental health services for other emotional problems.

Early indications of intoxication include:

• Nausea\Sneezing
• Coughing
• a bleeding nose
• Halitosis, or bad breath
• Exhaustion
• reduced appetite

Following are some frequently asked questions about the condom addiction incident:

What is an addiction to condoms?

Young people in West Bengal are reportedly getting drunk on flavoured condoms, according to a few reports. As the aromatic component in condoms degrades, addictive alcohol is produced.

Where is the report of this incident?

This condom addiction has been documented at several locations throughout Durgapur, West Bengal, including Durgapur City Center, Bidhannagar, Benachiti, and Muchipara, C Zone, and A Zone.

What are the risks of condom addiction to your health?

Regular drinkers experience several side effects, including chest pain, shaking, chills, fever, and headaches. Long-term addiction also harms a person’s mental health.

How may condoms make you feel “high”?

According to a source mentioned by News18 Bangla, when flavour-infused condoms are soaked in hot water, an alcoholic chemical is released. Before consuming it, the kids let the liquid sit for a long time—sometimes even overnight. According to officials, the students experience a high from the mixture that lasts for roughly 10 to 12 hours.

“Aromatic chemicals are present in condoms. It decomposes into alcohol. It is compulsive. The glue in dendrites contains this fragrant substance as well. The employee at Durgapur Divisional Hospital, Dheeman Mandal, responded to this strange obsession by saying, “So many people utilize dendrite for addiction also.

Nurul Haque, a chemistry instructor at Durgapur RE College Model School, explained this further and claimed that the long-term soaking of condoms in hot water results in drunkenness because giant organic molecules break into alcoholic compounds.

Even though it may sound strange, young people have tried new and inventive ways to get high. Cough medicine, glue, paint, nail polish, hand sanitisers, aftershave, balm, and Iodex, among other easily accessible home items, continue to be popular choices for many people.

In fact, due to addiction, toothpaste and shoe ink sales in Nigeria grew six times as much as typical in the middle of the twenty-first century. And right now, condoms in Durgapur are selling out within a day or two, which worries the district government.