Those of us who work as drug journalists are accustomed to witnessing the limits of human creativity, both at its most beautiful and its darkest. It’s the latter that prove most challenging to the psyche: from drugs made from human bones to urban myths of peanut butter and mayonnaise injections, the landscape of substances is, to say the least, diverse.
But just when we think we’ve seen it all and nothing can surprise us anymore, a new trend always comes along to humble us. This time, we’re talking about bluetoothing: the practice of shooting up the blood of a person who has recently used drugs.
Bluetoothing: What It Is and Why Injecting Someone Else’s Blood Is Dangerous
The idea behind this method isn’t complex at all: people inject themselves with the blood of someone who’s taken a drug (typically heroin or methamphetamine) to share the effects. Simple? Yes. Efficient? Apparently not. The second-hand dose fails to provide the same effects as the first. So much so that, according to the New York Times, some doctors suggest that any perceived effects are purely placebo-induced.
This practice, also known as “hotspotting” or “flashblooding” in places like Tanzania, primarily affects people from impoverished backgrounds looking for cheap ways to access drugs. A buy-one-get-one-free kind of deal, basically… or that’s what it would be if it actually worked.
To make matters worse, opportunists are already cashing in on the trend. In Zimbabwe, according to some sources, sachets of adulterated blood can be found on the illicit market. In Pakistan, it’s apparently not uncommon to sell half-used heroin syringes infused with blood.
The number of risks of bluetoothing is only surpassed by its seriousness. Sharing blood in an uncontrolled setting can be fatal: this is why knowing …
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Author: Marian Venini / High Times
