They are songs or sound effects in MP3 format that are broadcast on the internet and are supposedly capable of causing altered states in the mind of those who listen to them. They’re called digital drugs because the high they get would be similar to the high you get from consuming marijuana, LSD, or opium. They are accompanied by psychedelic images, and the sound abuses electronic beats and hums. The theme gained repercussions in 2008, when an American newspaper published an article warning parents about the danger of drugs. After that, many people say they suffered hallucinations after listening to the songs. However, there is no study that proves that they cause hallucinogenic reactions, since they do not contain any type of chemical substance and their effects are not that evident.
Scientists say that digital drugs are based on the so-called beats or binaural sounds, two tones in approximate frequency, but different from each other, discovered in 1839. What happens is that these beats would be able to synchronize brain waves, supposedly changing the state of mind
ONLY WITH TRAINING
Digital drugs cannot be confused with real drugs, which alter consciousness through the action of chemical substances. To travel with music and enter a trance, you need some training and autosuggestion – what happens when you use sounds to meditate, for example.
CHANTS AND BUMPS
It is not new that sounds are used to alter people’s consciousness. In primitive societies, the beating of drums and chanting influenced people’s mental state and behavior during ritual sacrifices. Repetition of sounds, such as Indian mantras, can lead to a high level of concentration.
IN THE POLICE SIGHT
Cyberdrugs caused an uproar in the United States this summer after the Oklahoma State Bureau of Narcotics declared that they could induce the consumption of real drugs. Some American schools have even banned the use of iPods to prevent their students from «going numb»
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