Snake Venom Use as a Substitute for Opioids: A Case Report and Review

The snake bite was associated with jerky movements of the body, blurring of vision, and unresponsiveness, i.e. “blackout” as per the patient for 1 h. However, after waking up he experienced a heightened arousal and sense of well-being, which lasted for 3–4 weeks, which according to the patient was more intense that the state of high experienced till that time with any dose of alcohol or opioids. Over the period, his use of opioids and alcohol reduced and most of use of these would be seen after 1–2 weeks of snake bite. On exploration, patient further disclosed that subjecting self to snake bite was common in his ethnic community (Northwestern part of Rajasthan, India), either as a substitute to other substances of abuse, or is used concomitantly with other substances to experience the feeling of ecstasy.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov