Unfortunately there are always people that are looking for the quickest, easiest, most intense way to ingest a drug. Some people have found that snorting alcohol allows them to feel the effects much faster and more powerfully than if they just drank the alcohol. This new trend is much more common among young adults and has health care providers and law enforcement worried. They are seeing more alcohol poisoning and people that are out of control due to ingesting too much alcohol in this new way.

“When we see these types of new trends people get over intoxicated and people do things where they lose control of themselves and they do something they typically would not do,” explained Lieutenant Mike Pooley of the Tempe Police Department.

Promoting responsible drinking has always been important for police, bar owners and health care providers. When trends like snorting alcohol start to become popular it becomes even more essential for people to consume alcohol in a responsible manner.

The last thing anyone wants is for young people to start snorting alcohol. The risks for alcohol poisoning are overwhelming, especially in children, yet underage drinking fads continue to exist. When a person drinks alcohol their stomach, liver and kidneys go to work to filter the toxic substance out of the body. A lot of times this biological safety net prevents a person from poisoning themselves with alcohol. When a person bypasses the stomach and liver and simply snorts the alcohol they do not allow their body to dilute or filter out the alcohol. They are at a much greater risk for alcohol poisoning and developing an alcohol dependency.

Alcohol addiction starts when the person creates a tolerance for alcohol. This means that the person can drink more and not feel the effects like they used to, in order to get the desired effect they have to drink more and more alcohol. When snorting alcohol, the person is essentially speeding up this process and is at a greater risk for becoming dependent on alcohol.