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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE]
#8472588 - 06/01/08 09:26 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Youth smoking ants to get high June 1, 2008 - The National
More than a third of children and some as young as 13 have smoked the native samsum ant as a substitute for illegal substances such as marijuana, a senior UAE health official has warned.
Smoking the red ant gives a similar sensation to smoking marijuana and sniffing glue because of the high concentration of formic acid found in the ants.
It is not illegal to smoke the ants, and a small packet is said to sell for Dh400 in Dubai.
“People smoke the ants because they are cheaper and safer – in the eyes of the law – than smoking narcotics,” said a senior police spokesman. “It is also widely available, if not easily purchased.”
Formic acid, from the Latin word for ant, formica, is a combustible liquid that produces poisonous gases when heated up.
Health professionals say the long-term effects of smoking the red ants could vary from lung fibrosis to kidney failure and damage to the central nervous system.
The Ministry of Health has not yet conducted research on the effects of smoking the ants.
“We are well aware this practice exists. More than a third of teenagers have tried it and some as young as 13,” said Dr Wedad Maidoor, the head of the ministry’s tobacco control team.
“However, our research only identifies the prevalence and not the side-effects of the practice because we have only recently become aware of it.”
She believes the youth are smoking the samsum ant because it is a legal alternative to marijuana.
“The only thing we can do is include this practice in our new anti-smoking campaign, which is aimed at young adults and teenagers. But we need to understand more about it before launching a campaign,” she added.
The samsum ant’s poison gland holds formic acid, a chemical that smells like vinegar and is used by the ants to kill their prey and to ward off attackers.
When they bite, formic acid causes necrosis or deadening of the tissues.
Mohammed al Ali, 27, believes the trend started with labourers from the subcontinent who roll the ants into their bhindis – pure tobacco cigarettes rolled up using a tobacco leaf.
“It’s a social thing for Indian workers,” the Emirati said.
“Go to Satwa Square and they are sitting there smoking the ants they rolled up into their bhindis.
“It’s as easy as picking up the ants, crushing them and then sprinkling them like you would do with marijuana over your tobacco. Then you get high,” added Mr Ali, who said he did not know anyone who had tried to smoke the ants.
Two young Emiratis, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the ants were collected, ground down and left to dry before being smoked in pure form, either in a roll-up or a pipe.
They said they had not tried it, but had seen others doing it.
“Kids just roll it up without any tobacco and smoke it,” said one.
Dr Riham Ammar, a pulmonologist at Jebel Ali International Hospital, Dubai, believes those who smoke the ants need urgent help.
“The samsum ants are high in formic acid, which is extremely harmful when inhaled,” he said. “Smoking them could lead to lung fibrosis, lung cancer and damage to the central nervous system.
“It’s like committing suicide.”
The ants were not chemically addictive, he added, but those who smoked them were psychologically addicted to the effect.
“People smoking the ants experience sensations associated with smoking cannabis and sniffing glue,” Dr Ammar said.
He warned that breathing formic acid could irritate the nose, throat and the lungs, causing coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.
Short-term effects when exposed to formic acid include nausea, headaches, dizziness and vision disturbance. “It could also damage the kidneys,” he added.
Formic acid is used to make textiles, paper, leather, fumigants, pesticides and solvents, and in electroplating and silvering glass. It is a corrosive chemical and skin contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes.
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Coaster
Baʿal
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: veggie]
#8472611 - 06/01/08 09:31 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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safer alternative ya right more people damaged from prohibition
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hockeyplyr1057
Music Lover
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: Coaster]
#8472729 - 06/01/08 09:58 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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more than a third of teenagers have tried this?
how come i dont know anyone who has? wtf?
-------------------- All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. -Gandalf
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Atheist
Stranger
Registered: 01/24/06
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Loc: USA
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: hockeyplyr1057]
#8472741 - 06/01/08 10:00 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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probably in the country they do it in (dubai)
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creekfreek
Certified phunologist
Registered: 01/26/08
Posts: 4,818
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: Atheist]
#8472781 - 06/01/08 10:12 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Ok when I red the title to this story, I giggled. And now that I read the story, This is some funny shit. Next thing you know they will be outlawing ants.
Now I need to go do a
Peace.
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ultimo101
Mushroomhead
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: creekfreek]
#8472791 - 06/01/08 10:15 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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lmao.
Prohibition makes us desparate
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Ego Death
Justadropofwaterinanendlesssea
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: veggie]
#8472890 - 06/01/08 10:32 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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I'll just stick with Jenkem
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Atheist
Stranger
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: veggie]
#8472935 - 06/01/08 10:40 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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i should smoke the ants in my antfarm
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andrewss
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: Ego Death]
#8472955 - 06/01/08 10:45 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
Ego Death said: I'll just stick with Jenkem
-------------------- Jesus loves you.
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j0nnyb0y05
IBelieveInBelivin
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: Atheist]
#8472957 - 06/01/08 10:45 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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this is so stupid, in dubai the restrictions are beyond belief. it is so stupid that residents are resulting to smoking ants insted of a plant that can be grown under sterile conditions. rediculous and retarded
-------------------- .....Healing Of People Everywhere.....
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Irieforester
Head to toe inH2O
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: Atheist]
#8472959 - 06/01/08 10:45 PM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Quote:
I'll just stick with Jenkem
It's probably the same kinda situation as jenkem, the fuzz thinks it's everywhere and it all ends up being a big hoax. Well almost.
-------------------- I am still and forever learning Apollyphelion said: You can learn A LOT from shitting in the right set and setting!
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kman980
StaySafe
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: Irieforester]
#8473353 - 06/02/08 01:25 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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First of all, I love how they explain how to get high by smoking red ants. I had never heard of it before but plan to try it now, so thanks for the thought.
Second of all, the government starts scaring the public into thinking that smoking red ants is harmful, even after someone had already stated more research needed to be conducted to determine the health effectsQuote:
.“However, our research only identifies the prevalence and not the side-effects of the practice because we have only recently become aware of it.”
To top it off, I love how they respond to the new "high."Quote:
“The only thing we can do is include this practice in our new anti-smoking campaign, which is aimed at young adults and teenagers. But we need to understand more about it before launching a campaign,” she added.
Why bother launching a campaign at all? Why not leave it legal? Why make an issue out of someone smoking red ants?
-------------------- When all else fails to organize people, conditions will.
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tyler_0_durden
Stranger
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: kman980]
#8473361 - 06/02/08 01:28 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Wow...the things people do.
-------------------- "As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter." --Max Planck
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illume
Alchemist
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: tyler_0_durden]
#8473413 - 06/02/08 01:52 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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Swim thinks this would have to be a perfect example of how phohibition does more damage than good. Anyone in their right mind cant say that marijuana is more harmful that this acid or glue, or any other of the things ppl do to satisfy the natural desire to alter their consciousness.
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JapaneseEmpress
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: illume]
#8473483 - 06/02/08 02:15 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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It just makes you think,..."what will people do next to get high legally?" wow.. thanks for the article. Smoking red ants...At 27, I must be getting old...I never heard of this attempt at getting high.
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Groomies
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: illume]
#8473491 - 06/02/08 02:20 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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anybody ever wonder how people figure out these things? they have to be either be really stupid or really smart.
stupid= "hey lets try to smoke some ants and see what happens"
smart= "Ants have formic acid, we can get high if we smoke them"
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JapaneseEmpress
Stranger
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: Groomies]
#8473494 - 06/02/08 02:24 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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I was thinking the same thing...
btw: nice photo to the right. My fiance will enjoy that photo tomorrow. nice ass
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illume
Alchemist
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: veggie]
#8473526 - 06/02/08 02:54 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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dont go trying it now;)
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akb112211
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: illume]
#8473867 - 06/02/08 05:35 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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so, wait. Does this mean one would get some effects from smoking, say stinging nettles? I mean, I have eaten them in soup, etc...But I thought heat and drying destroys the formic acid. Someone try it and report back. Though really, I think the formic acid is only contained in the barbs(needles) I imagine there would be a lot of plant matter to deal with. Unless one were to remove the needles. and then smoke... We need a tek and bioassay! anyone?
-------------------- "There never was and never will be, Nor is there now, The wholly criticized Or the wholly approved"
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Hightimes
Cultured cooties
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Re: Youth smoking ants to get high [UAE] [Re: akb112211]
#8473895 - 06/02/08 05:52 AM (15 years, 9 months ago) |
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DAMN maybe i should start dealing ants anyone want a stick? ill make it fat
-------------------- If you look up to someone, there looking down.
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