If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you’ve likely been inundated with stories about marijuana – the fight for and against legalizing it, the closing of several dispensaries, the heightened use among teens, even blogs by yours truly. Parents, forget your concerns about marijuana for just a moment and pay attention to the latest way your child is getting high – probably right under your nose. See little Johnny over there with his headphones on? Don’t look now, but your kid is probably stoned. And guess what?
He’s doing it legally.
The scary part is that your child doesn’t even need pharmaceuticals to achieve that high. He’s buying it online from a dealer called “iTunes” or “YouTube”. That’s right, through “i-Dosing”, your son or daughter is getting high on (gasp) MP3s. This latest craze among teens is raising the ire of many. In fact, Oklahoma is taking a stance against it by warning parents about the dangers of i-Dosing, which just might be the next “gateway drug”.
So what is i-Dosing exactly? Apparently it’s a droning sound that, when listened to, gives the same feeling of being blitzed from marijuana or cocaine. Imagine going to the World Cup and being surrounded by a bunch of vuvuzelas. You there? Congratulations, you’ve just gotten high.
Alright, let me just say it now – SERIOUSLY? What’s next, banning headphones? If my kid is rebelling by listening to an annoying sound through earphones, all I’m going to do about it is make fun of them for life. Really kid? This is your way of acting out? Ooh, there’s no controlling you, you rebel. I listened to it myself and it mostly just made my head feel like it was going to explode from how annoying it was.
For those of you wanting to get digitally stoned, take a hit.
You know my stance. What’s your take on this dangerous practice?
Wine Country Mom 
HAHAHAHAHAHAH! That’s just…ridiculous.
The new trend is spinning in circles until you get dizzy. It makes your head feel “funny”. All the cool kids are doing it! Weeeeeeeeeeee!
This isn’t really a new phenomenon. There is an entire religion based around meditation, which uses similar ‘music’ to achieve a mental high in order to feel closer to god. If the right frequency is used, some people even report hallucinations and visions. Frankly, I agree that it just gives me a headache, though.
Hey, there’s an app for that… Seriously, I have one. But it’s slightly less annoying than this racket (though a close second. I stopped using it after hearing it once). My head still hurts. Think it’s a hangover?
Modern escapism. What’s next?
Okay, I mentioned it to my bf, the tech boy and research hound, and he filled me in on a little bit of info about this ‘new’ trend. Apparently, pretty much since there has been recorded sound, there has been research into using sound to effect areas of the brain, based upon the frequency. Apparently you DO have to use headphones, because there are different frequencies on the two different channels and the combined harmonics are supposed to induce a state of deep relaxation. OH NOES! (Best keep those kids away from white noise generators, hugs and Thanksgiving dinner, too…)
I was going to try it out with a pair of headphones last night, but a night of very little sleep had me in a state too close to deep relaxation already…oh, another warning — I hear kids these days are experimenting with lowered levels of sleep, as it can induce slightly altered consciousness and giddiness.