Pubdate: Sun, 05 Oct 1997 Source: The Sunday Times (UK) Contact: Youths inject vodka for an instant high by Stephen McGinty TEENAGERS in rural communities are injecting vodka and whisky to achieve a quick high as the drug culture spreads to market towns and villages. In their desire to get drunk instantly, children as young as 14 are injecting spirits and even lager and cider directly into the bloodstream. The potentially fatal technique makes alcohol seven times more powerful than when consumed as a drink and carries a high risk of causing strokes. The trend, in which youngsters are exploiting the availability of alcohol easier than access to illegal drugs has been revealed by members of the Home Office police research group. Medical experts say that injecting alcohol can introduce air bubbles into the body, blocking the blood flow to the brain and inducing a stroke. It is also easy to miscalculate the amount of alcohol injected and administer a lethal dose. When alcohol enters the bloodstream directly the effect is immediate and uncontrollable. Experts say that only 10ml of whisky, less than half a measure, would put somebody over the drinkdrive limit if injected. Dr John Connolly, of the department of physiology and pharmacology at Strathclyde University, said: "If a large amount of whisky is injected there is a danger the brain might experience lethal concentrations of alcohol. It's madness even to think about injecting alcohol." The dangers did not deter Robert Brooksby of Driffield, a rural Yorkshire town where the Home Office study was carried out. He first injected Smirnoff vodka at the age of 18. "It feels like your head is burning with drink," he said. "If you pin [inject] yourself it burns through your veins and you can taste it in the back of your throat. Your whole body becomes woozy." Other cases found by The Sunday Times include: Phil, 23, a south London accountant, who injected whisky with a friend after a night's heavy drinking. He almost instantly blacked out and woke up hours later to discover his friend had died from alcohol poisoning; Lindsay, 18, a history student from Newcastle upon Tyne, injected Jack Daniels bourbon at a party in the house of a friend whose parents were out for the night. She did it to win a drinking competition. "I wanted to show I was madder than anyone else. I didn't really feel drunk, just very ill. Then I think I fainted." Frank, 29, a City trader from London, injected 12yearold Glenfiddich malt whisky after taking cocaine and drinking heavily to celebrate a large bonus. He collapsed and awoke to find the needle still sticking out of his arm. Although drug experts say the number of people injecting alcohol remains small, they fear an increase. Coral Burrows, a youth worker with East Riding county council, who helped to compile the report, said: "They are doing it sometimes out of boredom and experimentation and at other times out of desperation." The researchers, who chose Driffield as a representative rural town, found drug abuse in general is increasing in such communities, as it has in Britain's cities. In the past 10 years seizures of drugs in Humberside, which includes Driffield, have risen fivefold, while the number of drug offenders has increased fourfold. The most popular drug of choice was found to be cannabis, but drugs such as LSD, ecstasy and heroin were all easy to find in even the most isolated communities as dealers organised local drug drops. In an effort to get a kick, teenagers also ground up antihistamine tablets and smoked them.