"Hoax" drug gone real: The panic over "Jenkem" spreads over Red State America

[villager]

Whole New Meaning to "Some Good Shit!"


Smoke this!

Are kids across America really getting high on fermented feces, or has our national drug panic finally gone too far?
By Jamie Pietras

Nov. 9, 2007 | Forget about huffing gas or chugging cough syrup. This week, Midwestern TV news crews warned viewers about an even cheaper, more nauseating way for kids to get high. "Dirty New Drug Threatens Youth," KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa, reported Nov. 2. Three days later, WIFR-TV, in Rockford, Ill., cautioned parents about a "pretty horrific new drug becoming more and more popular in schools across the United States." By yesterday, Austin, Texas, station KXAN was reporting that the city's police department is training officers to deal with the dangerous new drug.

Just how horrific is jenkem, the newest narcotic peril? They say a good dish is only as good as its ingredients and, well, according to a confidential Collier County, Fla., sheriff's office bulletin that somehow made its way to media outlets, jenkem is made up of only two: "fecal matter and urine."




But it is actually an Internet hoax...

There, a user operating under the pseudonym "Pickwick" famously staged the jenkem-huffing scene back in June (or so he says; he came clean in September, claiming that his "jenkem" consisted of little more than dough rolled in Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread).

To those with an Internet connection, piecing together the images' shaky origin wasn't that difficult. The bottle's label clearly depicted the words "Jenkem, Pickwick, Totse."




Or is it?

Nevertheless, just as the jenkem story was about to be laid to rest alongside the "Life Is Beautiful" virus, the missing girl Ashley Flores and other legendary Internet ruses, an unnamed DEA spokesman dropped this bombshell: "There are people in America trying ," the source told Washington Post blogger Emil Steiner. DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney did not return a call from Salon. Nor did the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which spearheads federal narcotics education and strategy, or the Collier County Sheriff's Office in Naples, Fla.

Jamie Mosbach, a spokesperson for the sheriff's office, told ABC News, "We have had no confirmed cases. It came through an anonymous tip after someone saw something on the Internet and heard something about it from their child at a local high school. We just thought we'd inform our deputies in case they saw something."

And though the buzz on jenkem has spread like a viral marketing campaign -- one drug counselor quoted by Austin's KXAN advised parents that "if there is a very funky smell or odor, ask" -- the question of whether the dubious drug menace ever existed is now being replaced by a fear of copycat behavior, courtesy of all the ratings-grabbing hyperbole.

<snip>

http://darkforces.powbangzap.com/blog/2007/11/whole-new-meaning-to-some-good-shit.html

[acmavm]

1. Todd and Tyler talk about this frequently. I'm with them, I can't

believe how many people went for this crap (excuse the pun). And the bigger question is how many of the dumbasses in this country will try it just to see if it works?

[madokie]

5. hey maybe that would wake the dumbasses up, huh

[Blashyrkh]

50. Exactly. The media frenzy will encourage people to try it...

even though the only result will be your adding vomit to your "cocktail".

[flvegan]

2. I just heard a loud, collective "Dammit!" from Free Republic.

[mike_c]

41. ROFLMAO....

:rofl:

[BrklynLiberal]

3. American kids, dumber than dirt

American kids, dumber than dirt
Warning: The next generation might just be the biggest pile of idiots in U.S. history
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist

Wednesday, October 24, 2007


I have this ongoing discussion with a longtime reader who also just so happens to be a longtime Oakland high school teacher, a wonderful guy who's seen generations of teens come and generations go and who has a delightful poetic sensibility and quirky outlook on his life and his family and his beloved teaching career.

And he often writes to me in response to something I might've written about the youth of today, anything where I comment on the various nefarious factors shaping their minds and their perspectives and whether or not, say, EMFs and junk food and cell phones are melting their brains and what can be done and just how bad it might all be.

His response: It is not bad at all. It's absolutely horrifying.

My friend often summarizes for me what he sees, firsthand, every day and every month, year in and year out, in his classroom. He speaks not merely of the sad decline in overall intellectual acumen among students over the years, not merely of the astonishing spread of lazy slackerhood, or the fact that cell phones and iPods and excess TV exposure are, absolutely and without reservation, short-circuiting the minds of the upcoming generations. Of this, he says, there is zero doubt.

<snip>

more at.....


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/10/24/notes102407.DTL


Sadly, anything is possible..:crazy:

[villager]

15. yeah, that was a pretty --depressing? horrifying? alarming? -- Morford column, too...

n/t

[mark414]

23. meh, there's plenty of dumb people in every generation

how do you think reagan got elected?

[Sugar Smack]

28. And in every state, regardless of whether majorities voted "red" or "blue".

:banghead: Jesus.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

26. Aren't the people who are dumber than dirt...

the people who fell for the hoax?

Signs point to yes.

[Richardo]

4. I think an outbreak of e.coli should slow that down a tad,

Idiots.

[Dr.Phool]

6. Hey man, wanna buy some good shit?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. Next thing you know there will be shit-heads everywhere.

:P

[Dr.Phool]

10. You mean, there aren't?

:hippie: :crazy: :crazy: :hippie:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

21. OMG!! Your right! It's already reach epidemic proportions!!

The shit-head epidemic is sweeping the US.

We need a national intervention, STAT! :P

[TechBear_Seattle]

13. Oops, too late!

:eyes: How could anyone treat this seriously? Methinks the overreaction is another urban legend / Internet hoax.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

24. I think you're right

Yet I can't help but get a tickle out of all the tasteless jokes that this brings to my mind.

It could give new meaning to 'shit-for-brains' and revive such timeless wonders as 'shit-breath'.

:P

[gratuitous]

40. I know that at least two local TV stations in Portland ran the story

I didn't stay up to watch the 11 o'clock reports (aired so late, so the stations said, to protect the squeamish), but both of them had a screen shot of "Jenkem" and ominous warnings of a new drug poised to become the next meth epidemic.

Strangely enough, a search of the three major stations in Portland returns no results for this alarming development. I can't imagine why. Their teasers sure made it sound like this new drug was just a couple of steps away from leveling the entire city.

[EstimatedProphet]

7. Of course it's a hoax

Didn't these idiots ever stop to think about what they are writing about? You can't make a drug out of rotten shit! And even if you could, NO ONE would be able to stomach using it! Stupidasses.

[rodeodance]

9. sometimes I just have no response to this absolute dangerous crapola!

[hobbit709]

11. Right up there with the great "banana peel" hoax.

[malaise]

12. Damn they've pooped on my party - it's a hoax.

My thinking was that when you vote for shit you eventually have to 'sniff it'. 'Full of shit'would have taken on a whole new meaning. :rofl:

[John Q. Citizen]

14. Banana peels strike again!

[Beam Me Up]

36. Yep. 'E lec trickle banana, bound to be the very next craze'.

[villager]

48. God, well done! And it *does* give a whole new meaning to "Mellow Yellow!"

n/t

[asthmaticeog]

16. AWESOME!

:rofl:

[TalkingDog]

17. I think the overarching problem can be applied to why we are in our current "distress"

Unthinking knee-jerk reactionary response. On both sides.

The kids who, somewhat understandably since they aren't too life savvy, decide to try something new and different that their peers have obviously decided was cool.

And the adults who should actually know better. But instead, react to the first thing that pops into their head, which seems mainly to consist of "DIFFERENT IS SCARY, WRONG, BAD!!! MUST STOP/AVOID CHANGE!!! NEW DIFFERENT THING BAD!!!"


If you look at the folks who voted for shrub and some who still support him they are the same unthinking reactionaries who decide that their kids are stupid enough to huff doo.

Doesn't speak well of our country does it?

Can't we develop a vaccine for that?


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[villager]

19. actually, many "red areas" are also "meth addiction" areas, too I believe...

The anomie must be overwhelming in such places...

[Javaman]

18. In a related story...

Austin, Tx (AP) - Local high schools have put locks on all the toilets.

Because of the rise in use via students unwittingly taken in by the Jenkem hoax, school officials have required locks placed on all the toilets until a better means to control the spread of fecal matter for drug use.

Students were seen waiting in long lines by the bathrooms while a "rest room" monitor allowed them limited access two at a time.

One unidentified source stated, "what are they going to do, lock up our assholes, next?"

[villager]

20. Reported as fact in Alabama newspaper:

New drug in use by high school students

Carole Brand
Enterprise Ledger
November 9, 2007

advertisement

What once began on the streets of Africa has now made its way into high schools across the United States, say drug investigators. The “new high” used as a recreational and street drug for teenagers consists of the making of “jenkem” by inhaling human feces and human urine.

Coffee County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Investigator Neal Bradley said jenkem is already in use on the west coast.

“Whatever they’re using on the west coast is also used in Coffee County,” he said. “We’ve heard that this was something students were doing and it sounds crazy, but don’t think they’re not doing it here.”

Bradley said because of the diversity of Coffee County with people moving in, “drugs that people think aren’t in our county really are.”

According to the Associated Content Chrissy & Company’s website, for many teenagers, the use of “cheese,” “Winnie,” “butthash,” and even “devil’s chocolate,” are known as some of the common names for jenkem.

<snip>

http://www.eprisenow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=ENT/MGArticle/ENT_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173353435258&path=!news

[immoderate]

22. Let's tell them it's nutritious.

I say let them try it for themselves. In all, I think it's hilarious.

--IMM

[villager]

49. Let's tell them it's a Pat Robertson health product!

n/t

[maxsolomon]

25. the kids should go for it just to freak the adults out

maybe it will work & we can all save money.

you don't need grow lights or sudafed to make jenkem.

:sarcasm:
:crazy:
:smoke:
:evilgrin:

[Paulie]

27. Sounds like Cheech and Chong

Dog ate the stash, so followed him around for a week with a little baggy.... Man!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

29. "Man, what is in this shit, man?"

"Mostly Maui Waui man, but it's got some Labrador in it."

:rofl:

[Swamp Rat]

30. LOL! This is the best way to fight back against the "Drug War" fascists.

:rofl:

[AngryAmish]

31. Maybe these folks will add the atomic sit-up to their workout routines

[Beerboy]

32. I saw this hoax last week;

anybody stupid enough to die trying that is someone I just can't feel sorry for. I would just laugh.

[Homer Wells]

33. JENKEM--Apply directly to your frontal lobes!! nt

:freak:

[DCKit]

34. "Man, that's some GOOOOOD shit." nt

[Fire Walk With Me]

35. I can't wait for Bush to go on TV to announce The War On Jenkem.

[Prefer]

37. Was this part of the hoax in 1999?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/406067.stm

[FreedomRain]

38. Welcome to DU

Still a sh~tty story to make your first post on!

[villager]

42. Snopes mentions that article

Still nothing can be verified, apparently

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/jenkem.asp

[Prefer]

43. Why can't it be verified

Slopes calls the citations in professional journalism "hard to verify". Does this mean they are false?
Does it mean that the BBC is part of the jenkem hoax back in 1999?

Is it possible to become intoxicated by inhaling a gas?

I can't say I believe it is a craze with kids in the USA, but I find it interesting that so many are willing to dismiss this as a recent hoax when the evidence suggests that this is a real phenomenon for those poor children in Africa.

[villager]

44. btw, welcome to DU!

As to your point, good question: Were the BBC reports based on "word of mouth," like the "Craze" reports here this past week?

Did the Youtube prankster have access to these earlier reports to make the hoax more real?

[KaptBunnyPants]

39. Gee, and all we had were rainbow parties when I was a kid.

Is there anything stupid enough that parents won't get hysterical about it?

[Sugar Smack]

46. Oh, no. Not today, it seems. There's no room for nuance any more.

The pea-brain antics found in the news, whether or not they're political, happen in RED states. Didn't you get the memo?

:eyes: :toast:

[Bright Eyes]

45. Kinda old but...

Drug addicts now injecting shampoo
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article283356.ece

Health officials fear for the lives of drug addicts who are indulging in the bizarre and deadly new craze of injecting themselves with shampoo.

Health officials fear for the lives of drug addicts who are indulging in the bizarre and deadly new craze of injecting themselves with shampoo.

The craze, reported in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, is for a specific brand of shampoo - Pantene - and appears to be fed by an urban myth that the product has hallucinogenic properties. Shopkeepers in the city yesterday reported high instances of theft of the brand, while community health advisers warnedthat nothing in the product would produce hallucinations and those who injected it risked death.

Dr David Tregoning, Sunderland's consultant in public health medicine, said:"I can think of few things more dangerous than injecting shampoo into the blood. It is a tremendously toxic substance and we are urging anyone who is tempted to do this not to."

One retailer said: "This particular make of shampoo started to disappear from the shelves late last year. We couldn't work out why at first, then one of the thieves told us what he was stealing it for."

Proctor and Gamble, which produces Pantene, said: "There is nothing in Pantene that could cause any sort of hallucinogenic effect. Injecting shampoo into your veins is an extremely dangerous thing to do and we can only urge people not to."
-----
We really will do anything to got high, eh?

[iamthebandfanman]

47. whats it say about america

when people actually would go to that length to try n get high.
sheesh
lol

i think ill stick to pot ;)

[MetaTrope]

51. Is it rolled in banana peels?