"As the Chennai mail screeches to a lazy halt, a six-foot tall Nigerian
walks out along with the restless passengers and was nabbed and ........."
Reading the news felt much similar to a crime thriller. The story was about two
men trying to smuggle cobra venom and the dangerous rise in the use of it
as a substance of abuse in different parts of the world. Snake venom, in
highly diluted form, is emerging as a designer narcotic drug in many parts of
the world. Reports suggest that it gives tremendous high and works well for
long-heroin users. This is shocking and seemingly dangerous.
The cases of snake bite for abuse have been reported in Substance
Abuse Journal. The abusers, both long term addicts of various substances,
received snake bite with the help of nomadic snake charmers. Both of them felt
dizzy and had blurred vision followed by a sense of heightened arousal and
sense of well being lasting for a few hours. They felt sort of grandiosity
than given by a regular narcotic drug.
Cobra venom is made of enzymes and lipids. The neurotoxic venom
can cause paralysis and respiratory arrest. Cobratoxin, a component of the
venom prevents acetylcholine molecules from binding receptors blocking synaptic
transmissions, resulting in a temporary relaxation of the muscles similar to
certain common drugs of abuse.
So keep in mind of another emerging substance abuse scenario
you may have to deal with in the near future.
References: Wikipedia
