Digital High

Having just watched 21 Jump Street a week ago, I had a strong sense of déjà vu when I read this story- a new drug that's been circulating among high school students and has got them raving about it on YouTube. This is no ordinary drug though; it's music. Called i-Doser, the "drug" is actually a new online service that sells musical tracks for prices between $1-$5 per track, with the promise that you will get high or experience the euphoria of ecstasy, marijuana or cocaine. Appropriately then, each track in their library is named after a particular drug, both legal and illegal. The site prides itself on providing a legal alternative to the illicit drugs that pervade society today. So the big question is...how does this thing work??

With the tag-line of 'Binaural Brainwave Simulated Experiences', the underlying principle behind the product is using binaural beats delivered through stereo headphones to create an otherworldly experience.  Binaural beats, is a phenomenon that occurs when two different tones are played in opposite ears, and a low-frequency beating sensation is created in the brain. The beating sensation is the effect of the conflicting electrical signals in your brain’s wiring. The binaural beat effect was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, a Prussian physicist and meteorologist, in 1839. His discovery only earned greater public awareness in the late 20th century, when claims arose that binaural beats could help induce relaxation, meditation, creativity and other desirable mental states. While there have been very few controlled experiments to study this effect, the hypothesis is that bineural beats can induce changes in a person's psyche by creating differential patterns of brain wave activity.  There are four different sets of waves that are produced in our brain:  Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Theta. Alpha brain waves are associated more with a relaxed state, while beta brain waves are associated with alertness, and so on. Thus, when these brain waves are mixed and matched, it is purported that a person may experience another state of consciousness, much like a drug-induced high. 

So will i-Doser keep people from seeking drugs, and more importantly is it safe? I have to admit that I am skeptical of i-Doser replacing recreational drugs. On their website, i-Doser states that there are three classes of people: Susceptible to Binaural Beats, Originally Unsusceptible to Binaural Beats, and Immune to Binaural Beats. They also make the bold claim that drug addicts can use these tracks to supplement their drug addictions and even break them;  I do have a hard time believing that. As for safety, the general consensus is that the technology is completely safe. Apparently, the brain slowly adjusts itself back to reality when the track is done playing.  And since it doesn't actually affect your body in any physical way, there are no physiological side effects to worry about. However, since the tracks are said to mimic drug-like states, driving after listening to one of their tracks wouldn't be such a great idea.

There are numerous links on YouTube documenting reactions to i-Doser. You can always try it out yourself, if you're curious. Be careful though, they don't give you a refund.