It’s noon on Friday at the Relix office and, while many offices have casual Fridays, we here at Relix are dosing. I-Dosing, that is. Three willing interns – acting as guinea pigs – lay on the ground with earphones in, hoping for some sort of high that will get them through the workday.

I-Doser is a website that has many different “drugs” available for purchase. It sells tracks named after different drugs that, when listened to with headphones, supposedly give the listener a reaction similar to that of the drug it is named for. The “digital drugs” are binaural beats, an effect of sound frequencies on the brain that was discovered in 1839. When the sounds are listened to with headphones, the ears hear different frequencies, which the brain reads as another low-frequency beat. Binaural beats have reportedly been able to influence the brain in subtle ways, such as reducing anxiety and controlling pain.

I-Doser has taken this effect a step further. They claim that, through scientific studies, they can replicate the effects of drugs like acid, peyote, opium and marijuana and feelings of ecstasy, orgasms and relaxation. In theory, I-Doser provides the participant with a safe, legal way to get high. However, it has many parents and school systems up in arms about their kids getting “high” and many claim that I-Doser will eventually lead to real drugs.

The ideal I-Doser experience, according to the website, requires that the participant lie down in a dimly lit room, with no interruptions and use high-quality headphones. Back in the Relix office, we interns decided to test out the trip.

Upon downloading the I-Doser media player, we were presented with two free doses: Alcohol and Contentment. Naturally, we chose to go for the alcohol. We sat in a dark office laying back in a desk chair with headphones on loud, prepared for the 35-minute “trip” we were about to embark on. The noise started. Heavy static came blasting through the headphones. Five minutes later another sound, a high pitched buzzing, like a television makes when the cable goes out, joined in. Our brains felt like they were vibrating as the sound continues for the next 20 minutes. During the last ten minutes, the static slowly faded out and eventually stopped. The buzz stopped shortly after, leaving us with a headache and the need for a nap but no feelings of drunkeness. Damn. Next dose!

“Which should I do next? Acid or peyote?” asks one intern. After just doing a 30-minute dose of “Alcohol” with no effects (save for the headache that ensued from listening to the buzzing), she decided to do “Peyote” while another tried Opium." Another session of dosing ensued, with noises straight out of E.T. flooding our ears. No results, unfortunately, only now we felt stupid for even thinking that we would feel anything at all. And here we worried about the website’s caution that Peyote was “for the truly serious psychonaughts only.”

While it has been proven that binaural beats can induce various stages of consciousness, relaxation and focus, it seems far-fetched that it can mimic powerful, hallucinogenic drugs like peyote, LSD or mushrooms. Recently on NPR, a researcher from Oregon Health and Science University claimed that these digital drugs do not have the ability to significantly alter a user’s brainwaves. Dr. Wahbeh conducted a small, controlled study and concluded that, “We did not see any brain wave activity shifting to match the binaural beat that people were listening to.”

That said, a 2008 article in Alternative Therapies journal, concluded that, based on 20 previous studies, binaural beats is an effective therapeutic tool for people who are suffering from stress, pain, headaches and migraines. Furthermore, the researchers found that improvements in intelligence and behavior lasted after the binaural beats stopped, suggesting that the effects can be permanent.

Although we weren’t fooled, the placebo effect of I-Doser may cause young, susceptible minds to actually have a trip. School systems have been warning parents about digital dosing. According to News.com, the practice attracted media attention in March when a group of students from Mustang High School in Oklahoma were caught in a dark room “wasted on monotonous, layered sounds.”

That kids are now posting videos of one another on YouTube trying out the various types of doses hasn’t helped quell parents’ concerns. One of the most popular- and of the free ones offered by the I-Doser- is kids listening to the “Gates of Hades.” Check out this clip and this clip of kids on a serious “trips.” Many of the Internet posting talk about how brave" these kids were to do it (no, seriously). We don’t know what about you, but if someone offered us a drug that referenced a place where people go to die and suffer an eternity, we’re not sure we’d really be up for it (let alone listen to something that gave us that feeling).

Maybe you want to be touched by The Hand of God like this kid or this one. This kid on the nitrous seems to be enjoying himself more than this kid who’s feeling the weight of Greek mythology.

Worried that the digital drugs would lead to more harmful addictions, the school sent letters home to parents warning them of the possible “dangers.” What those dangers are, however, remain debatable.

“It’s unlikely to cause any problems,” Harriet de Wit of the University of Chicago told LiveScience. She also added that any physical highs associated with the practice are more likely linked to the user’s expectations rather than legitimate biological effects. In an interview, I-Doser.com owner Nick Ashton addresses the issue by explaining that using the site is completely safe, but any user should “be aware that this is causing a modification of mood.”
“Any method that involves experiencing a simulated mood or experience should be taken seriously,” he said.

Although the act of I-Dosing itself has not proven to be harmful, narcotics authorities in the U.S. are concerned that searching for a more intense effect will lead I-Dose users down the path to more harmful practices or addictions. Concern mainly lies in the fact that the marketing of the digital tracks plays largely on drug culture terminology. Additionally, I-Doser offers visitors the opportunity to make big money as a dose dealer.

The media coverage of the Mustang High incident increased traffic to the site, according to Ashton. The PC Player Application alone has had over a million downloads since the story broke. Of the I-Doses, Ashton says that the binaural sequences were “highly technical tones that take years to develop.” He also claims that he has been selling mood-modifying tracks for ten years and his site is not the only one to promote the benefits of aural stimulation. Similarly, according to i-dose.us, the tracks on the site’s “Binaural Beats” list may help listeners quit smoking, relieve PMS and relieve pain.

Critics of the commotion made over the practice argue that I-Dosing could easily be renamed “iMeditation” or “iHypnotherapy.” Similar to I-Dosing, mediation, which consists of deep concentration on a specific thought or awareness, is considered to be one of the oldest forms of mental, spiritual, health practices in existence. Many also argue that the practice is no different then listening to songs that trigger similar feelings and, therefore, banning the practice would have to include banning much of radio, television and the Internet. What happened to the times when people would just put good ‘ole satanic messages or hidden messages in music?