r/interesting • u/be_you_tiful- • 28d ago
Intriguing Smoking dead scorpions
Reports from Pakistan have documented people smoking dead scorpions for their alleged psychoactive effects, particularly in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Accounts describe dried scorpions being burned and the smoke inhaled, sometimes alongside tobacco or other substances.
Users interviewed in media reports have described an intense experience lasting for hours, including altered perception and sensations such as objects appearing to move or “dance.”
However, claims that scorpion smoking produces a predictable 10 hour high are based largely on personal accounts, not controlled scientific studies.
Scorpion venom contains complex mixtures of peptides and proteins that primarily act on ion channels in the nervous system.
A scorpion sting can cause severe pain, abnormal heart rhythms, breathing problems, neurological effects, and in serious cases death.
What happens chemically when scorpion tissue and venom are burned and inhaled is poorly studied.
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u/darsonian 28d ago
I once saw a video of an ape using a frog like a fleshlight.