Jenkem, The New Drug That Has Entered The Us

[denjac]

My son was telling me they are talking about this at the Police Acadamy where he is attending.

Drug use even dirtier with 'jenkem' becoming popular

Valeriya Ivanova

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Features

PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 2 next > What do you think of when you hear the words urine or fecal matter? More commonly, people may think the terms are disgusting, or they may think of the bathroom. Today, though, they are two things you will find in the main ingredient list for a new drug: jenkem, or butthash. Other reported slang terms of jenkem are: winnie, dung, runners, fruit from crack pipe, leroy jenkems, might and waste.

The drug originated in third world countries, including locations within Africa. It is a homemade drug created from human urine and fecal matter. The waste is placed into a bottle or a jar, which is then covered with a balloon.

Next, the bottle is left in the sun until its contents are fermented. The users inhale methane gas captured inside the balloon for a reportedly euphoric high and the experience of hallucinations. The downside, besides smelling like waste, is the taste of sewage left in your mouth. This lasts for several days.

In 1999, the BBC reported jenkem as a drug being used by children in Zambia, especially in the city of Lusaka. Often, substance abuse offers the children a temporary escape from a harsh world, and jenkem provided a clear route toward a high without spending much money - just a little quality time by the sewer.

"They say it keeps them warm and makes them fearless," John C. Zulu, director of the Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development in Zambia said.

"Nobody knows exactly where the idea for making Jenkem came from, but it has been used by street children in Lusaka for at least two years," BBC reported. "Nason Banda of the Drug Enforcement Agency is not proud when he says that it is unique to Zambia."

During September 2007, a bulletin post from the Collier County Sheriff's Office intended for interdepartmental use only was linked to public Internet users across the nation stating jenkem had entered the U.S. borders. The bulletin was posted after a concerned parent emailed the sheriff's office claiming their child overheard discussions about the drug at the Palmetto Ridge High School.

[FishinCricket]

Here's a decent question:

How exactly do they intend to outlaw it?

I have heard of some stupid drugs, but I do believe that inhaling the fermentation of your own feces pretty well takes the cake!

[fishinwrench]

Gives new meaning to the term s#!tfaced doesn't it ?

Oh Make no mistake Cricket, Big brother will figure out a way to legislate taking a crap.

I'm sure they've been wanting to for quite some time... Now they have a valid media-friendly excuse.

While we're on the subject, is the milk crate I carry in my canoe still legal, or did we loose those with the last law-making session ? I'm not sure which poly-sumthin' it is made out of.

[trout fanatic]

Gives a new meaning to the phrase: "Man that was some goood sh@t!!

[techo]

The drug World (to include police) is filled with rumors. Hers is an article from 2007. So it isn't a new rumor.

Q: I've been seeing reports lately of people doing a new drug called "Jenkem". Supposedly, it involves fermenting human fecal material and urine, and then capturing the gas from said fermentation, and inhaling it. From what I can tell, it's pretty much unsubstantiated, and has all the hallmarks of another media drug scare. Please tell me people aren't actually doing this...

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A: Dr. Z, The jenkem stories that have been circulating in the U.S. media are almost certainly the strange result of a hoax. We have seen no credible evidence that anyone in the United States, Canada, or Europe inhales sewage gas from bottled human or animal waste (which would primarily be methane) in order to get psychoactive effects. There is pretty good documentation that this story is simply a hoax/misunderstanding.

When we first saw news coverage about jenkem we laughed at the silliness of the story and at the stupidity of the mainstream news media. We've been amazed to watch how quickly the idea has spread and at the level of prurient interest people have in the story.

The origination of the story was several reports about kids in Zambia inhaling the gasses put off by human waste as an alternative to sniffing glue. We have no knowledge about the accuracy of these reports, but it's certainly possible the kids in Zambia thought it would be funny to make up a story for adult aid workers that they were inhaling sewer gas to get high. And while it is potentially believable that folks in the slums of Africa might resort to such a thing, it stretches the bounds of credulity to believe, without solid documentation, that this is done in the U.S.

It seems vaguely possible that a handful of extremely experimental people in developed countries have tried this process, but the one online report of use that is cited by most of the media stories turned out to have been faked by the author who clearly also thought the idea was ludicrous. The story was posted to a public forum and included photos of a bottle supposedly containing human excrement. He later retracted his story, saying he had faked both it and the photos.

The story spread as a sheriff's department in Collier County Florida issued an internal warning bulletin, including the photos from the faked forum report. From there, it has was picked up by a plethora of media outlets across the U.S., almost always reported on as a serious and dangerous new drug threat. Please.

This seems to be a prime example of people in online forums saying ridiculous, obviously false things and then being used as a primary data source by people who ought to know better. It is difficult to believe this has received as much attention as it has. Erowid had decided not to comment on this until we noticed we were receiving a large number of search hits on the term 'jenkem' in November 2007.

Without undeniably clear evidence that people are actually inhaling the gasses from human waste (outside of some performance art piece) we believe there is little reason to give this much attention: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Unfortunately, this much media attention can actually confuse people into trying something stupid because they think other people are doing it.

Another rumor is the meth cooks putting strawberry Quick in the product so it tastes great for kids. You can't make it taste great. It will burn your fingers a bit if you touch it. You can eat it, but it is reported t be very metallic and burns all the way down. It is also reported you don't get a very good high this way as it gets filtered. I even spoke with the cops in Carson City where this rumor started. They were using the red P method of cooking and did not wash the product good enough so the red phosophorous color was left in the meth.

Probably bored everyone to sleep!

[FishinCricket]

Dang it, Techo! Why did you have to wait until I had the crap in a bucket? Couldn't you have spoken earlier? I was just logging back in to ask how exactly you get the lip of the balloon around the edge of the five gallon bucket.... lol

Seriously, you know waaaaaaay too much about drugs man... (shhhh)

[denjac]

Techo, just thought it was news worthy as the teachers at the crime lab were talking about it. Guess not.

[techo]

denjac,

I sure would never argue with lab teachers. People huff anything from paint (they prefer gold) and gas to who knows what. Huffing was a huge problem in the Alaska villages as they were usually dry. I know it isn't new as there were rumors about ten years ago.

Anyways.....I could be wrong!

[rps]

A very long time ago I heard someone ( won't say where or when as it would embarass people for whom I care) talk about the risk of "screaming yellow zonkers." It turned out to be the name of caramel corn.

Sometimes the story is too "good" to be true.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I was reading today that they have figured out how to make meth in 2 liter pop bottles. They don't cook it, but shake it.