Dangerous Viral Trend: Vaporized Alcohol

Vaporized alcohol is a new trend in alcohol abuse. Teens are able to use vaporized alcohol to get drunk faster. Jeff Rossen, of NBC News, investigated teens turning to vaporized alcohol for a faster high, and it’s even more dangerous than drinking it.

Young people are able to watch YouTube videos to learn how to vaporize alcohol and inhale the fumes. Steve Pasierb, who runs the partnership at drugfree.org, says, “These videos scare the hell out of me. It’s binge drinking in an instant. It’s like doing five or six shots into your bloodstream right away.” The videos show teens inhaling beer, whiskey, champagne, and other alcoholic drinks. Teens report that they are drunk within seconds.

It’s binge drinking in an instant. It’s like doing five or six shots into your bloodstream right away.

When you drink alcohol normally, it first goes into your stomach. Then, the alcohol slowly processes through your liver. Alcohol takes about 20 minutes to enter your blood stream when you drink it. When you inhale or “smoke” the alcohol, it absorbs directly into the lungs. It then goes into the brain. Vaporized alcohol not only gets you drunk faster, it also poisons you faster.

When you drink too much, your body deals with the excess alcohol by vomiting. If you are inhaling the alcohol, your body has no way to remove it. Experts report that some videos make false promises. This method will not help you lose weight; if you consume alcohol, you still consume calories. You will not be able to hide your drunkenness; the smell is still on your breath. Vaporized alcohol will cause you to fail a Breathalyzer test. You can still get a DUI if you drive while intoxicated. Also, it is illegal to consume vaporized alcohol if you are under 21.

This is by far a more dangerous way to consume alcohol. ER doctors told Jeff Rossen that they were looking out for this type of use, and it was more likely to cause alcohol poisoning from the body not being able to expel the alcohol through vomiting. Hospitals are able to treat for alcohol poisoning, which can cause death. Clearing the body of vaporized alcohol is much more difficult because there is nothing to empty from the stomach.