A Woman Injected Crushed Black Widow To Get High, And It Was A Very Unpleasant Trip

A woman who crushed up a whole black widow spider and injected it in an effort to get high in the 1990s ended up having a very bad time when the arachnid’s venom kicked in. The unpleasant trip saw her spend a few days in the intensive care unit (ICU) with breathing difficulties, muscle cramping, and possible anaphylaxis. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

The unusual case was reported by doctors in California in a 1996 correspondence in the Annals of Emergency Medicine , detailing the events following a 37-year-old woman’s decision to inject a mixture of crushed-up whole black widow spider and 10 milliliters of distilled water.

She would later tell doctors that the injection was intended to get her high, but instead, sh