Just say NO to choking yourself, ya idiots

Can we PLEASE just legalize pot already?

LATimes this morning has a story on "The Choking Game," and one area teenager that died from it.

It's kinda like auto-erotic asphysiation without the wanking.

I know! What's the point of AEA unless you're jerking off?

Folks, that is one motherfucking desperate high, is what that is:

There's no way to know how widespread it is. The phenomenon has been discussed on talk shows and online forums. A chat group begun last summer by bereaved parents has more than 50 members and maintains a list of more than 70 deaths.

Yet experts have been slow to document the practice and its widespread appeal.Children play the game by compressing the carotid arteries in their necks, reducing blood flow and oxygen to the brain. That produces a momentary loss of consciousness, preceded by lightheadedness. When they release the pressure, a surge of pent-up blood flows to the brain, creating a euphoric rush.

They do it in groups, at parties, at sleepovers, in school locker rooms and in lavatories. But they've added a dangerous element to a game some of their parents played as children. Now instead of just squeezing one another, they wrap belts, ropes, ties, dog leashes, even bicycle chains around their necks to produce the fainting sensation.This allows the game to be played alone, when one mistake — a belt too short, a rope too tight — can doom a child.

"These are typically not kids who are using drugs, but they're doing it for the same reason that kids use substances," explains Julie Rosenbluth of the American Council for Drug Education. "It's an opportunity to get high that doesn't have the stigma [of drugs] attached to it."

Stigma of drugs? Shit.

Let's talk about a motherfuckin' stigma. How about the stigma of dying for a high you could get from a whipped cream canister?

Jesus.