Home Minister Chennithala withdraws 'drug parlours with baby viper bites' remark

On June 29, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala gave the Assembly bizarre and shocking information. "There are parlours in Kerala where baby vipers are made to bite the tongues of addicts in search of a high."

The home minister, who is leading 'Operation Toofan' against drug use, was offering a graphic account of the extremes to which junkies would go in Kerala. He was participating in the discussion on the demands for grants in the Budget.

However, a day later, on June 30, he withdrew the statement. A Facebook user, Shimna Aziz, had pointed out in a post on June 29 that the minister's claim was not just factually incorrect but also dangerous. "If a viper bites the tongue, forget intoxication, you don't live a moment longer," Azeez said in her post.

"Since this comment had come from a responsible political leader like Ramesh Chennithala, there is a high possibility of a medically erroneous idea becoming popular. Someone might even be prompted to try this method," she said.

Further, she said that viper poison was hemotoxic. Meaning, it directly attacks the circulatory system. "Its venom bypasses the nervous system, and so a viper bite will not offer any kind of delirium associated with drug use," she said.

At the same time, death is near certain. Since the tongue has a vast network of blood vessels, Shimna said the venom would quickly spread far deep into the circulatory system and fast-track death.

"If not death, the viper-bitten person will be incapacitated for life. The person could be bedridden or could develop irrecoverable kidney trouble," Shimna said.

According to her, the cobra and the common krait are examples of snakes with neurotoxic venom that attacks the nervous system. "These are the snakes addicts attempt to use in their desperation. But their bites will also cause certain death," she said.

The home minister immediately acknowledged the mistake. "When I was speaking of snakes being used to get a high, I had said baby vipers that were employed for the purpose. That is factually incorrect. I accept the correction," Chennithala said in his Facebook post.

The home minister's post also reveals that he had referred to baby vipers in his public interactions long before he made the comment in the Assembly.