Author Topic: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital  (Read 724 times)

MechAg94

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 33,622
The drug is obtained from crushing the ceramic honeycomb core of the converter
https://www.autoblog.com/2021/09/28/kinshasa-congo-bombe-drug-car-catalytic-converters/
Quote
KINSHASA, Congo — A new craze for a drug derived from crushed vehicle exhaust filters is rattling authorities in Kinshasa, triggering a campaign to stamp out the concoction and a related rash of car part thefts.

Quote
The brown powder is obtained from crushing the ceramic honeycomb core of automotive catalytic converters, the device that cuts the emission of toxic gases in vehicle exhaust pipes.
----------------------------------
Users mix the crushed honeycomb with vitamin pills and typically add sleeping tablets, sedatives or smoke it with tobacco, but nothing is known about how it works, or its long-term effects, said Dandy Yela Y'Olemba, country director of the World Federation against Drugs.

One of those stories you see that is completely unexpected.  I am at a loss for words.

Car-exhaust drug craze alarms Congo’s capital
https://nypost.com/2021/09/27/car-exhaust-drug-craze-alarms-congos-capital/


“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

griz

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,030
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2021, 12:06:57 AM »
I was shocked when I heard people huff gasoline.  Now this.  Not sure which ones worse, destroying brain cells or poisoning yourself.
Sent from a stone age computer via an ordinary keyboard.

Boomhauer

  • Former Moderator, fired for embezzlement and abuse of power
  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 14,274
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #2 on: October 09, 2021, 12:28:31 AM »
The local tweakers sure are going to be sad they didn’t know catalytic converters were the drugs themselves also, not merely a means for quick cash
Quote from: Ben
Holy hell. It's like giving a loaded gun to a chimpanzee...

Quote from: bluestarlizzard
the last thing you need is rabies. You're already angry enough as it is.

OTOH, there wouldn't be a tweeker left in Georgia...

Quote from: Balog
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! AND THROW SOME STEAK ON THE GRILL!

HankB

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 16,564
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2021, 11:04:29 AM »
I've ceased to be amazed at what morons will consume/smoke/inject/inhale/whatever in order to get some kind of high.

When I was a youngster, the big fear was kids sniffing model airplane glue. Hell, I didn't even like the smell, so I always tried to build my models near an open window - and other kids were squirting it into baggies and inhaling?  :facepalm:

Laws were passed  [ar15]  and I had to have my parents buy my glue for me. Maybe the result of this will make catalytic converter theft a drug offense? (I can see some crazy greenie arguing that catalytic converters are illegal drugs disproportionately hurting POCs and have to be banned, as an indirect method of banning gasoline powered cars and mandating electric vehicles. As soon as they figure out how to monetize the argument for themselves.)
Trump won in 2016. Democrats haven't been so offended since Republicans came along and freed their slaves.
Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it. - Mark Twain
Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction in stolen goods. - H.L. Mencken
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. - Mark Twain

WLJ

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 27,847
  • On Patrol In The Epsilon Eridani System
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2021, 11:08:21 AM »
Put out on the internet that you can get the same effect by running a hose from your car's exhaust pipe into the car with the windows closed and let Darwin take care of the problem.
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us".
- Calvin and Hobbes

MechAg94

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 33,622
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2021, 11:10:37 AM »
The article said they were adding stuff to the mixture so it is likely all the additives to produce the high and the catalyst metals are for show.  I don't want to experiment.
“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”  ― Calvin Coolidge

griz

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,030
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #6 on: October 09, 2021, 02:33:16 PM »
Put out on the internet that you can get the same effect by running a hose from your car's exhaust pipe into the car with the windows closed and let Darwin take care of the problem.

Call it the Tailpipe Challenge and it could catch on.
Sent from a stone age computer via an ordinary keyboard.

WLJ

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 27,847
  • On Patrol In The Epsilon Eridani System
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #7 on: October 09, 2021, 04:09:13 PM »
Call it the Tailpipe Challenge and it could catch on.

And Tide Pods make for the perfect snack while you wait for your high
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us".
- Calvin and Hobbes

lee n. field

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 13,534
  • tinpot megalomaniac, Paulbot, hardware goon
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2021, 06:04:32 PM »
let Darwin take care of the problem.

<nods>

I was shocked when I heard people huff gasoline.  Now this.  Not sure which ones worse, destroying brain cells or poisoning yourself.

Happens.  When I was young we had a problem with one of the neighbor kids sniffing gas by sniffing at Dad's tractor fuel tank. 
In thy presence is fulness of joy.
At thy right hand pleasures for evermore.

HankB

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 16,564
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #9 on: October 09, 2021, 07:36:39 PM »
I was shocked when I heard people huff gasoline.  . . .
That could really be interesting in the case of a chain smoker . . .
Trump won in 2016. Democrats haven't been so offended since Republicans came along and freed their slaves.
Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it. - Mark Twain
Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction in stolen goods. - H.L. Mencken
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. - Mark Twain

Doggy Daddy

  • Poobah
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 5,330
  • From the saner side of Las Vegas
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #10 on: October 09, 2021, 08:19:53 PM »
That could really be interesting in the case of a chain smoker . . .

You say they're stealing chains to get high now too!?!
Would you exchange
a walk-on part in a war
for a lead role in a cage?
-P.F.

Andiron

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,930
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #11 on: October 09, 2021, 09:33:31 PM »
Africa wins again, and Darwin will not be denied.
"Leftism destroys everything good." -  Ron

There is no fixing stupid. But, you can line it up in front of a wall and offer it a last smoke.

There is no such thing as a "transgender" person.  Only mental illness that should be discouraged.

HeroHog

  • Technical Site Pig
  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,030
  • It can ALWAYS get worse!
    • FaceButt Profile
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2021, 11:00:21 PM »
You say they're stealing chains to get high now too!?!

Down here in Louisiana, I've heard tale of some idjut trying to steal a bunch of chain and drowning in the swamp trying to cross it with all that heavy chain...
I might not last very long or be very effective but I'll be a real pain in the ass for a minute!
MOLON LABE!

HankB

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 16,564
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #13 on: October 10, 2021, 10:28:58 AM »
Down here in Louisiana, I've heard tale of some idjut trying to steal a bunch of chain and drowning in the swamp trying to cross it with all that heavy chain...
Hmmm . . . border problems . . . Rio Grande River . . . chain migration . . .

Maybe with the right tik-tok video challenge . . .  >:D
Trump won in 2016. Democrats haven't been so offended since Republicans came along and freed their slaves.
Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it. - Mark Twain
Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction in stolen goods. - H.L. Mencken
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. - Mark Twain

ConstitutionCowboy

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 642
  • My Gender and Pronouns are Standard.
Re: Craze for drug made from catalytic converters alarms Congo's capital
« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2021, 10:49:28 AM »
I was shocked when I heard people huff gasoline.  Now this.  Not sure which ones worse, destroying brain cells or poisoning yourself.

Yes.

Woody
   "Knowing the past, I'll not surrender any arms and march less prepared into the future."   B.E.Wood