EMBALMING FLUID IS NOW POPULAR DRUG

PHILADELPHIA -- Embalming fluid is becoming an increasingly popular drug
for users looking for a new and different high--one that often comes with
violent and psychotic side effects.

Users--mainly teenagers and people in their 20s--are buying tobacco or
marijuana cigarettes that have been soaked in the fluid, then dried. The
cigarettes cost about $20 apiece and are called by nearly a dozen names
nationwide, including "wet," "fry" and "illy."

"The idea of embalming fluid appeals to people's morbid curiosity about
death," said Dr. Julie Holland of New York University School of Medicine.
"There's a certain gothic appeal to it." Although there are no national
statistics on usage, many drug experts say it appears to have spread from
urban areas to well-to-do suburban neighborhoods and college campuses.