{{Short description|Recreational ingestion of insecticides}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} '''Wasp dope''', or '''wasping''', also known as '''wasp meth''', '''shock dope''', '''hot shots''' or by the street names '''KD''', '''Katie''', and '''zombie''', refers to the ingestion of common household insecticides, in particular wasp and hornet sprays that contain pyrethroids, either combined with or as a substitute for more conventional addictive substances that cause euphoria, such as methamphetamine or crack cocaine.<ref name="Young2020">{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=April M. |last2=Livingston |first2=Melvin |last3=Vickers-Smith |first3=Rachel |last4=Cooper |first4=Hannah L.F. |title=Emergence of wasp dope in rural Appalachian Kentucky |journal=Addiction |date=2020 |volume=116 |issue=7 |pages=1901–1907 |doi=10.1111/add.15291 |pmid=33063438 |pmc=8046840 |url=}}</ref>{{better citation needed |reason=Anything that calls bug spray a "homemade form of methamphetamine" is extremely suspect|date=March 2026}} Wasp dope is an emerging{{When|date=May 2026}} trend in the southern United States, although there are obscure reports of insecticide abuse dating back to the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Stephanie |publisher=ABC Action News |title=People Are Using Heavy Duty Bug Sprays To Get High And It Is Really Dangerous - Indy Firefighters Respond To Several Calls Per Day |url=https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/people-are-using-heavy-duty-bug-sprays-to-get-high-and-it-is-really-dangerous |date=20 March 2019 |orig-date=19 March 2019}}</ref><ref name="Gussow">{{cite journal |last1=Gussow |first1=Leon |title=The Latest High: Wasp Spray Dope |journal=Emergency Medicine News |date=January 2022 |volume=44 |issue=1 |page=10 |publisher=Lippincott, Williams & Witkins |doi=10.1097/01.EEM.0000815532.96632.e8 |quote=Sporadic similar cases have been reported over the past four decades.}} </ref>
== History == The origin of wasp dope remains unclear, and very little research is available on wasp dope users.<ref name="Young2020" />
A July 2000 report from the ''Journal of Hand Surgery'' describes five patients in the United States who injected common bug poison. Extreme inflammation and liquefaction necrosis were among the pathologies observed in these cases.<ref name="Buchman2000">{{cite journal |last1=Buchman |first1=Mark T. |title=Upper extremity injection of household insecticide: A report of five cases |journal=Original Communications |date=2000 |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=764–767 |doi=10.1053/jhsu.2000.8643 |pmid=10913221}}</ref>
== Signs and symptoms == Although household bug sprays are relatively safe when used as intended, the act of huffing, smoking, snorting, drinking, plugging, vaping or injecting bug poison could result in irreversible neurological damage, or even death.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beasly |first1=Michael |last2=Temple |first2=Wayne |title=Pyrethroid Toxicity and its Management |url=https://bpac.org.nz/bpj/2013/december/docs/BPJ57-pyrethroid.pdf |publisher=National Poisons Centre}}</ref> Possible symptoms of ingesting bug poison include, but are not limited to: erratic behavior, nausea, headache, sore throat, extreme inflammation, redness of the hands and feet, auditory hallucinations, convulsions, coma, necrosis, and death.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=WISH-TV|title=Wasp spray used as alternative meth, contributed to three overdoses|url=https://www.wishtv.com/news/national/wasp-spray-used-as-alternative-meth-contributed-to-three-overdoses/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=People Are Overdosing on Wasp Spray in West Virginia|url=https://www.livescience.com/65954-wasp-spray-overdose-meth.html |work=Livescience}}</ref><ref name="Bradberry2005">{{cite journal |last1=Bradberry |first1=SM |title=Poisoning due to pyrethroids. |journal=Toxicological Reviews |date=2005 |volume=2 |issue=24 |pages=93–106 |doi=10.2165/00139709-200524020-00003 |pmid=16180929 |s2cid=32523158 }}</ref>
== Methods of ingestion == A case report from Texas describes two different ingestion methods. The patient would spray the insecticide onto a hot surface, which would cause it to crystallize. This purified material would then be inhaled or smoked. It is also said that the crystalline bug poison is dissolved in water, and injected intravenously.<ref name="Sharma2014">{{cite journal |last1=Sharma |first1=Pravesh |last2=Manning |first2=Stephen |last3=Baronia |first3=Regina |last4=Mushtaq |first4=Saira |title=Pyrethroid as a Substance of Abuse |journal=Case Reports in Psychiatry |date=2014 |volume=2014 |article-number=169294 |doi=10.1155/2014/169294 |pmid=25431720 |pmc=4241337 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
== Prevalence == Research published in 2020 suggested that 19% of substance abusers in Appalachian Kentucky have ingested wasp dope. The use of wasp dope is strongly associated with homelessness and methamphetamine use in this region.<ref name="Young2020" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Substance-related disorders Category:Insecticides Category:Euphoriants