Eight minors were poisoned in Mexico for consuming an anxiolytic medication, as part of a viral challenge carried out on the video platform Tik TokThe authorities reported this Friday.
The “clonazepam challenge” consists of taking clonazepam pills and not letting yourself be overcome by the sleepiness it produces. “The last one who falls asleep wins” is the slogan with which this practice has also gone viral on that very popular network among the youngest.
The cases occurred in schools, five of them on Thursday in the Mexico City and the rest in the state of Nuevo León, where the students managed to take the drug, despite being on a controlled regimen . None were reported serious.
Clonazepam is medicated to control seizures, panic attacks and cases of anxiety, but also usually induces sleep in parallel.
The Secretary of Citizen Security from the capital said in a statement that the minors were treated at the school itself by paramedics who confirmed their intoxication “due to the consumption of a controlled medication.”
Meanwhile, in Nuevo León the students withdrew by their own means. “We found out about these three cases and the support of the municipality was requested. By the time (the health personnel) came, the children had withdrawn,” said Alma Rosa Marroquín, local health secretary, at a press conference.
“Unfortunately, the challenges that are spread through the networks often put people’s health at risk,” he added.
On Tik Tok, some users have also posted videos warning about the danger of this challenge, which had already caused poisoning in 2022 in other Mexican states such as Veracruz and Coahuila.
The first record of the challenge dates back to 2018 in Chile, when there were dozens of cases of adolescents who used the drug as a challenge, although it became popular in 2020.
On Tik Tok there are several videos of people recording themselves while taking the pills to observe their effects.
