Video: Teens Insert Vodka-Soaked Tampons for an Intense Hit

Teenagers have long taken their vodka in experimental fashion: eating boozy Gummi bears and pouring the liquid onto your eyeball are two options. But now girls in the Phoenix area are soaking tampons in the spirit, then inserting them where they're designed to go, hospitals report. It gives you a quick rush because, "It's a very vascular structure," as Dr. Dan Quan of Maricopa Medical Center explains to KPHO: "Quicker high; they think it's going to last longer. It's more intense." A super tampon can absorb roughly one shot of vodka. However, "This is definitely not just girls," says school resource officer Chris Thomas. "Guys will also use it and they'll insert it into their rectums." He also stresses that this isn't just a Phoenix phenomenon: "This is everywhere." Indeed, it was reported in Germany earlier this year. The practice can irritate the vaginal wall. More seriously, it bypasses the body's defenses to alcohol poisoning: there's no stomach acid involved, and no gag reflex to expel alcohol when you over-consume. You can pass out without warning. And while avoiding boozy breath may sound good if you're trying to fool your parents, it can also mean hospital staff don't know what to look for, wasting vital time.