From Emojis To Crypto, Tech Has Changed How Teens Shop For Drugs

The action has shifted from dark alleys to the smartphone with youngsters using their own drug slang and tech smarts to score. Sunday Times takes a deep dive into D-commerce

- Mohua.Das

The next time you overhear your teen talking about kothimbir, chawal, ajinomoto, dandruff, Pikachu, Hello Kitty or jungle boy, you might want to pay greater attention. It’s unlikely that they’re planning a trip to the vegetable market, suffering from scalp issues or gushing over comic book characters.

In street lingo, kothimbir is marijuana, chawal and ajinomoto stand for meth, dandruff is cocaine, Pikachu means hallucinogenic pill, Hello Kitty is MDMA and jungle boy is hydroponic weed. Emojis, too, have opened up a new language where a maple leaf could mean weed; toffee is ecstasy pills, and snowman is cocaine. And youngsters are using them to secretly talk about recreational drugs to avoid getting in trouble with the law, at school or at home.

Even as the controversial arrest of a star kid by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) last week hit the headlines, the reality is that drug use among teens, young adults and even children as young as 12 has been rising. The potent combination of smartphone technology, social media networking and e-commerce platforms have made it rather easy for young people to discuss their drug habits, go window shopping for it, engage in virtual transactions and have them delivered at their doorstep in ways that weren’t possible even 10 years ago.