KUWAIT: Hearing the words "digital drugs" may mislead people into thinking that it is a case of people being addicted online to gaming or pornography; however, this kind of intangible substance is more related to musical beats and forms that sway the mind, leading to a narcotic state of existence. According to the American data-service company TechTarget, digital drugs, more accurately called binaural beats, are "sounds that are thought to be capable of changing brainwave patterns and inducing an altered state of consciousness similar to that effected by taking drugs or achieving a deep state of meditation".

While speaking to several experts, KUNA found out that some certain kinds of beats affect the brain chemicals with some creating this psychedelic muse, similar to drugs, a matter that need to be addressed and studied further. Head of the psychological ward at the Jaber Al-Ahmad armed forces hospital Col Dr Nawaf Al-Qadiri indicated that digital drugs are the latest in the line of addictive material, though intangible, still negatively affect people.

Digital drugs are illusive in terms of tracking and devising laws to prevent their proliferation, Dr Qadiri said, adding that it is important to tackle this new phenomenon before it spreads further. On the specifics, Dr Qadiri has indicated that digital drugs use sound frequencies around 440 hertz for the right ear and 400 hz for the left, inducing this drug-like state in the brain. He went on to say that a dose of digital drug is around 15 to 30 minutes, but for a heavy "out of body" experience, one might continue on for 45 minutes and more.

In contrast, Dr Kamal Al-Farraj - a Kuwait University's (KUNA) professor of psychiatry and physiologist - said the issue is tricky because sometimes such certain beats are used in healing session of patients suffering from psychological trauma. It would be very hard to differentiate between the two, argued Farraj, citing various studies that were inconclusive when it came to the effects of so-called digital drugs on the mind. Such material did not cause addiction and it also had no withdrawal symptoms, he pointed out. The "jury is still out" on the matter, Dr Farraj asserted, noting that until solid evidence is available, the issue is still in the realm of metaphysics.

Elaborating on the legal angle, Attorney Suad Al-Shimali said that digital drugs mostly focused on the youth because they were easy targets. Some sound files cause symptoms similar to taking actual drugs, she added, stressing that it was important to devise laws to counter digital drugs, which began proliferating since 2010. Some estimated digital drug addicts at 200 million globally, she claimed. Shimali indicated that the problem was in not having actual laws addressing the issue, revealing that the Kuwaiti law of 74/1983 does not have any mention of digital drugs.

Bringing the issue back to psychology, Dr Kheder Al-Baroun of Kuwait University said that the issue of sound affecting people is an age-old matter that is still unraveling to this day. The danger was bringing any person to a state of mind similar to one abusing drugs, affirmed the professor, who called for ways to address this matter. While the tug-of-war conversations on digital drugs continues, it would be beneficial for anti-narcotic experts to look into the matter to devise plans to counter any ill effects and outcomes. - KUNA