# What in jenkem would cause hallucinations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-jenkem-would-cause-hallucinations/425031 "2007-11-02T18:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-jenkem-would-cause-hallucinations/425031/1 "2007-11-02T18:13:21Z")
I just read on Snopes about a drug called [jenkem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenkem), which is made from fecal matter and urine fermenting. A gas produced is inhaled and provides a hallucinogenic buzz. :dubious: This seems very unrealistic sounding to me, but I am not able to find any information beyond anecdotal evidence. Does anybody have the straight dope on this stuff? What chemical can be so easily produced to make a hallucinogenic drug from raw sewage, and why was it never discovered until the mid 1990s by some street kids in Africa? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-jenkem-would-cause-hallucinations/425031/2 "2007-11-02T19:22:34Z")
> **[Sewer gas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewer_gas)** > > Sewer gas is a complex, generally obnoxious smelling mixture of toxic and nontoxic gases produced and collected in sewage systems by the decomposition of organic household or industrial wastes, typical components of sewage. > Sewer gases may include hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane, esters, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Improper disposal of petroleum products such as gasoline and mineral spirits contribute to sewer gas hazards. Sewer gases are of concern due to their odor... a start ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-jenkem-would-cause-hallucinations/425031/3 "2007-11-02T19:30:45Z")
[QUOTE=PatriotX] > **[Sewer gas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewer_gas)** > > Sewer gas is a complex, generally obnoxious smelling mixture of toxic and nontoxic gases produced and collected in sewage systems by the decomposition of organic household or industrial wastes, typical components of sewage. > Sewer gases may include hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane, esters, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Improper disposal of petroleum products such as gasoline and mineral spirits contribute to sewer gas hazards. Sewer gases are of concern due to their odor... a start [/QUOTE] From your link: “Sewer gas often has a “rotten eggs” smell, which comes from the hydrogen sulfide it contains. Exposure to low levels of this toxic chemical can irritate the eyes, cause a cough or sore throat, shortness of breath, and fluid accumulation in the lungs. Prolonged low-level exposure may cause fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches, irritability, poor memory and dizziness.” Nothing in there that sounds like a high, except maybe the dizziness. Certainly nothing to cause hallucinations. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-jenkem-would-cause-hallucinations/425031/4 "2007-11-02T21:51:38Z")
Where’s the puke smiley when you need it? ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-jenkem-would-cause-hallucinations/425031/5 "2007-11-05T21:11:32Z")
I love the images in [this link.](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1105072jenkem1.html) Plus the comments about the taste not going away. I’ll admit, back when I was in high school I scored some good shit, but this is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-jenkem-would-cause-hallucinations/425031/6 "2007-11-05T21:43:03Z")
I don’t know about this huffing fart gas thing, but feces does containe methane and indole, both of which can be psychoactive. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-in-jenkem-would-cause-hallucinations/425031/7 "2007-11-06T08:46:32Z")
It reads like a spoof to me. Very reminiscent of the [Brass Eye](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_Eye) show on ‘cake’. (Brass Eye was a satirical fake news show - in one episode, the creator managed to convince an assortment of celebrities to go on camera and make fools of themselves by warning against a supposed new drug called ‘cake’ > [@](#): > > David Amess MP, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Basildon, was fooled into filming an elaborate video warning against the dangers of a fictional Eastern European drug called Cake, and went as far as to ask a question about it in Parliament . The drug purportedly affected an area of the brain called “Shatner’s Bassoon” and was frequently referred to as “a made-up drug” (a drug, they were told, not made from plants but made up from chemicals). Other celebrities such as Sir Bernard Ingham, Noel Edmonds and Rolf Harris were shown holding the bright-yellow cake-sized pill as they talked, with Bernard Manning telling viewers that “One kiddy on Cake, cried all the water out of his body. Just imagine how his mother felt. It’s a fucking disgrace” and that “… you can puke yourself to death on this stuff - one girl threw up her own pelvis-bone… What a fucking disgrace”. Manning, along with other participants, told the public that Cake was known on the street as loonytoad quack, Joss Ackland’s spunky backpack, ponce on the heath, rustledust or Hattie Jacques pretentious cheese wog, and then informed anyone offered it to “chuck it back in their face and tell them to fuck off”.