KIDS AND COMMUNITY: SMOKING 'FRY' ISN'T A NORMAL TEENAGE RITE OF PASSAGE

Marijuana Joints Soaked In Embalming Fluid Are Latest Deadly Drug Trend.

Every generation exhibits behaviors that are intended to both baffle and
offend parents and elders. Many of these adolescent provocations revolve
around styles of music or dress and the use of illegal drugs. For the most
part, such activities are harmless rites of passage.

There are, however, notable exceptions - such as the emerging practice of
getting high on marijuana joints that have been dipped or soaked in
embalming fluid and laced with phencyclidine (PCP).

This drug combination is known as "fry" because, as one youth posted on the
Internet, "Smoking it fries our brain." Other street terms are amp, illy,
purple rain, wack, and wet. The latest reports indicate an increase of
smoking fry on college campuses. If so, it is only a matter of time before
we see this practice mimicked by secondary school students.

How It Works

The typical effects of smoking fry range from visual and auditory
hallucinations, euphoria, and a feeling of invincibility, to anger,
paranoia and forgetfulness. In extreme situations seizures, kidney failure,
stroke, and coma also may occur.

Although users report that these super-joints "taste like rubbing alcohol
and smell like gasoline," the attraction is in the nature of the high,
which can last from six to 30 hours. Also, the product is fairly
inexpensive, generally $20 to $35 per cigarette, if purchased on the street.

Unfortunately, studies indicate that most young buyers are unaware that the
marijuana mixture contains PCP and believe it has been laced only with
embalming fluid. This is a critical oversight because sensory distortions
and delusions fueled by PCP may have serious consequences.

One smoker reports experiencing blurred vision and impaired depth
perception so great that she walked into the path of an oncoming car.
Another remembers a feeling of super-strength and paranoia after excessive
fry smoking, as well as how easily he was enraged.

Getting People to Imagine

A message on an Internet bulletin board from "Anonymous Stoner," a
self-admitted fry user, says it best: "Wet [fry] is an embalming fluid that
is used to preserve dead peoples' bodies. Why would you want that in your
body? When you are on wet [fry] you look like you are dead. Imagine what it
is doing to your insides!"

The task of parents, teachers and drug prevention specialists is to help
teens and young adults choose to not experiment with this very dangerous
chemical combination. And making that important choice means a youth must
pause to imagine the consequences of smoking fr before lighting up.

On a practical level, this means publicizing both the presence of PCP in
fry and the dangerous nature of PCP itself. It means capitalizing on the
repulsive nature of embalming fluid and the fact that even druggies do not
like fry.

It also means educating both lay people and medical/psychological
professionals about the warning signs of fry use in young people -
unreasonable anger and frustration, depression, and physical violence.

Generational Signatures

Every generation has its signature rebellious style. In my youth it was
loud rock-and-roll music and the protest folk music of the 60s. And while
marijuana and cheap wine were our staples, it was LSD and other
consciousness-expanding hallucinogens, such as magic mushrooms and peyote,
that became our signature drugs.

I since have watched as generational music preferences changed to acid
rock, heavy metal, rap, and rave, and I have seen new drugs, such as
cocaine and Ecstasy, become the current fad.

I have a great respect for outrageous and rebellious behaviors that
facilitate a healthy transition between adolescence and adulthood. The
sometimes-shrieked statements that "my values are different from yours" and
"you can't control what I think and do" are necessary and time-honored
steps in growing up. But I believe that when a substance or practice is
potentially life-threatening, this information needs to be well publicized.

I know that writing about a drug like fry can be a double-edge sword - that
even though it will dissuade some youngster from this dangerous practice,
other risk-taking adolescents and young adults will be attracted to the
drug flame because of what they are reading.

It is a chance I must take.

My hope is that adults who read this article will talk about fry to the
young people in their lives in a calm and nonjudgmental fashion. I also
hope they actively will listen to these young people when they share their
thoughts on drugs, music, the difficulties of growing up, and anything else
they might want to talk about.

Perhaps such a dialog will lead to a new signature - one of compassion that
transcends generations.

* Judy Shepps Battle is a New Jersey resident, addictions specialist,
consultant and freelance writer. She can be reached by e-mail at
Judy@writeaction.com. Additional information on this and other topics can
be found at her Web site at http://www.writeaction.com/.