Police are concerned that young ravers in India are turning to cobra venom to get high at parties across the country, as an Indian influencer was arrested for allegedly supplying the substance.
Youths are increasingly turning to snake venom as a substitute for traditional drugs, after discovering that highs can last for several days.
Though it is not known exactly when young people started getting high on snake venom, police officers across the nation have begun cracking down on the craze.
So much so that a winner of the Indian version of Big Brother was arrested at a rave for allegedly trying to peddle snake venom.
Social media influencer Elvish Yadav was arrested at a party in Noida, in state of Uttar Pradesh, and held for 14 days under the Wildlife Protection Act.
Social media influencer Elvish Yadav (pictured) was arrested at a party in Noida, in state of Uttar Pradesh, and held for 14 days under the Wildlife Protection AcT
He was found with nine cobras and a plastic bottle with 20ml of snake venom, and he was charged with providing snake venom
The process of venom extraction can be incredibly harmful for the snakes themselves
Police found nine cobras and a plastic bottle with 20ml of snake venom during the raid, and Elvish was charged with providing snake venom.
The influencer appeared before the District and Sessions Court in Surajpur, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
While he has denied the charges, he reportedly admitted to arranging for snakes and snake venom to be delivered to raves he hosts.
Uttar Pradesh Environment Minister Arun Saxena said that everyone, including celebrities, ought to be held accountable for their actions.
He said: ‘Law will take its course, and no celebrity is bigger than the law.’
The process of getting hold of snake venom is incredibly challenging. Snake charmers are called in to coax cobras out.
Once they’ve been charmed, snakes, which are often injected with chemicals to make them produce more venom, are made to either spit out the venom, which is saved and ingested later, or they are made to bite a person on the foot.
After the venom enters the bloodstream, it released chemical substances including serotonin and peptides that puts them in a sedative state.
This generated an overwhelming sense of wellbeing and euphoria that is normally associated with powerful opioids, though people can also suffer muscle weakness and paralysis as well.
The process of venom extraction can be incredibly harmful for the snakes themselves.
Meet Ashar, a legal adviser with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in India, told The Times: ‘They are often starved and have their teeth yanked out to make it safer for the handler to deal with them.
‘If the police found 20ml of venom that’s huge, and it means many snakes were tortured or even died in the process.’