Don't Try this at Home

This week, we address vodka filtration through coffee filters, BORGS, hangover remedies, dab rigs, and why these are not good ideas when it comes to reducing the risk from substance use. 

Transcript

Marissa: Welcome to the Last Call Podcast. My name is Marissa Whitaker, and I'm the prevention educator at SUNY Cortland.

Sarah: And my name is Sarah McGowan. I'm the assistant Director of Student Health and Wellness at Onondaga Community College. Our jobs are to educate students about potential risks associated with substance use.

Marissa: We approach substance use from a neutral stance and our episodes are rooted in public health with a focus on science and harm reduction. 

Marissa: Welcome back, everybody. A couple of weeks ago, Sarah and I were talking about some of the outrageous things that we've heard from students, talking about some urban legends or drinking hacks. But today we're here to dispel some of those myths and talk about why you shouldn't be trying some of these things at home. So, Sarah, tell me a little bit about coffee filters and vodka.

Sarah: There's a new trend that I've seen on TikTok where people are putting super cheap vodka through, like, a water filtering system. So think of a Brutal or a coffee maker, and they're saying that putting the cheap vodka through any type of filtration system will turn it into a top shelf liquor. So you start off with a $6 bottle of Barton's, put it through your bread and water filter, and you end up with ultimately, a bottle of Gray Goose. So what's interesting about this is that it's not the filtration that makes the vodka super smooth, it's the purification and distillation process. So, honestly, you can pass your cheap vodka through your brita as many times as you want. It's not going to magically turn it into great goose. So, yes, you might change the flavor a little bit, but you're definitely not going to get top shelf liquor from a $5 pint. Something else interesting that I've heard is that if you do this, it's going to prevent a hangover. And that's not true either. Not to mention that now every time you go to get water, your British pitcher is going to taste like vodka. That does not sound like a fun time to me. So where is the next one? And this is something that I'm hoping that you can explain to me. Please tell me, what is a Borg?

Marissa: There's a lot of really good peer reviewed articles on boards. No, there are not. So a Borg stands for a blackout rage gallon. If that's something that you have heard, but you're not familiar with what that breaks down to. So what that is, and we are not recommending this by any means, so I'm explaining what it is. Then we're going to talk about why this is a bad idea. So it's a gallon jug filled with half water handle, a vodka or bottle of vodka, and then a bottle of some of the mio or a drink mix. So it's touted on these websites that you don't taste alcohol and it hydrates you because theoretically, you're drinking a half a gallon of water before you add the alcohol which I don't understand. How do we know someone's drinking that water before? And then on these websites, it's kind of glossed over like old cigarette ads where, again, you're having that water beforehand, so you're hydrated. So here's why this is problematic. Not tasting alcohol is a problem. Your body and your BAC doesn't care if you're tasting the alcohol or not. So it makes sense if you're not tasting it, you can drink more, which is not a healthy goal, but I see that that's the goal when someone's drinking a Borg. But take into account, too, that a standard bottle of alcohol is 16 shots. Are you taking 16 hours to drink this? Very unlikely. So your body is truly not getting a chance to process through that. And at the very least, this is doing a number on your tolerance, too. So there's not really a good reason to be doing this.

Sarah: Well, it's interesting tumor, if you think about it. It's a good practice to alternate alcoholic drinks and water, but you're not doing yourself any favors if you're drinking water with your alcohol. It's not going to cancel out the alcohol that you're drinking. And it's most important to hydrate before you start drinking, because then you're somewhat replacing some of the electrolytes that you're losing as you're drinking more and more.

Marissa: They've taken our messaging and used it against us. It's too cheap, but don't do it. So this is a very good segue into our next topic. Perhaps maybe if someone had Borg to the night before. What about hangover remedies? Tell me about those, because I know we've talked about this before, and you have the most outrageous things that you hear. Yeah.

Sarah: So this is probably one of the funnest topics that I like to ask students about. So one of my favorites, someone told me that it was an old family secret to eat canned peaches when they were hungover, and then it automatically cured that hangover. So that might be something that your family has done for years and years, but there's no magic pill or drink or food that's going to prevent or cause your hangover to disappear. So what we're going to do is we're going to break it down. So some things that don't work. Here the dog. So I'm sure everyone has heard that continuing to drink the next day or the night of is going to help prevent that hangover or prevent it from happening. That's definitely not going to help. So not to mention that if you're starting your day with a drink, we should definitely have a conversation. Drinking alcohol won't stop or prevent a hangover. It just kind of pushes it down the line so that when you sober up, it's likely going to be worse than ever. Not to mention what responsibilities are you neglecting for a three day rager. Homework, anyone? No biggie.

Marissa: Yeah. What about certain liquor types? We've covered this in another one of our episodes but give me a refresher.

Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. So this could actually be true. So we've talked about how certain types of liquors can contain more congenitals that are likely to cause bad hangovers. So clear liquors like vodka and gin are less likely to cause bad hangovers than alcohol like red wine, whiskey, and rum. But ultimately, if you drink enough of anything, I could give you a hangover. So it's always important to keep track of how much you're drinking.

Marissa: But what about the supplements you can take?

Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. So this has become super popular. So there are drink mixes that have extra vitamins and minerals in them, like liquid IV. There's also pills you could buy on Amazon. So sometimes, yes, these can be helpful with replacing your body's vitamins that may be lost as a result of drinking. But it's also important to remember that you could replenish these vitamins just through a healthy diet. So, yes, drinking a high amount of alcohol in addition to dehydration is what causes a hangover. So it's important to drink the least amount possible to kind of get you to where you want to be at. But also it's important to eat a good balanced meal before you go out and then throughout the day, as well as staying hydrated before you go out.

Marissa: It's funny, too, that you mentioned replacing vitamins. Yes, we take these things if there are deficiencies, but it's a mystery how I don't have these vitamins. I'm like yo because you were, like, drinking a lot the night before. So there's also some preventative measures we can take to not be to the point where we've lost our supply of vitamins in our body.

Sarah: Yeah, absolutely. Loving on easy mac with no vegetables.

Marissa: Or fruits, probably vitamin C. It is pretty orange.

Sarah: All right, Maria, so this is a good one. So can you talk to us a little bit about Dabrigs?

Marissa: Yes. And going back to the title of this episode, don't try this at home. This is especially important from a safety perspective. If your home is a residence hall or an apartment with a lot of residents in it, people use Dab rigs when they're using THC concentrates. Oftentimes it involves a blow torch. And in a shared living environment, we see how this is problematic. Essentially oversimplifying what it's done is someone heats up a ceramic metal glass tool and then that's used to vaporize the THC concentrate. What makes that different than a lighter is that it's really hot. So getting super high plus a butane torch, plus hundreds of people in a shared environment are a lot of ways that this could turn into Final Destination Six. So, again, not a big light that's going out. It's a butane torch, it's hot glass, it's ceramic metal, really hot equipment. So not only the fire risks that could be associated with that, but the risk of burning yourself as well.

Sarah: And in the case of a real fire situation, that would be awful.

Marissa: I know. I thought there were, like, a bunch of students doing like, a French cooking class. They must be making creme brulee.

Sarah: They weren't using that in the woods in your camper.

Marissa: If we find that right, and there are ways that people can heat this up, like using electricity and not a butane lighter. But again, that goes back to that burn. That's still going to be hot. That's still the potential risk of a burn. It's really painful. Also, going back to what people are using, the high concentrated THC, that can also pose a certain set of risks. Different from floured, cannabis. Again, maybe used in theory, it's a more highly concentrated product. It's more refined, so someone would need less of that than flour to get high. But at the same time, how many people are using those concentrates for that reason? A lot of people use them because it has a really high concentrated THC. They want to get super high. So might not always be used in moderation. Also remembering a gram, just because it's the same weight, very different concentrates. So a gram of concentrate, much higher THC than a gram of flour. And again, what is this doing to your tolerance level? So if you're used to using something that's in the 90% THC area, what is that flower going to do to you later on? Maybe not as much as it would have before.

Sarah: Well, thank you so much for joining us on this week's episode. Just a disclaimer, we are not condoning or encouraging anyone to try the things that we've talked about today, which is.

Marissa: Why it's called don't Try this at Home. We just wanted to make sure that.

Sarah: We outlined some of the risks with things that we've seen or heard pretty significantly over the last couple of years. So thank you so much for joining us, and we'll catch you on the next one. Bye.