"Digital drugs," otherwise known as binaural beats, have sparked an outcry in Lebanon, with the Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi calling Thursday for legal measures to be taken against the product.
Rifi called on State Prosecutor Samir Hammoud Thursday to take necessary legal measures to halt the prevalence of “digital drug” users in Lebanon.
“Digital Drugs,” better known as binaural beats, are audio track that can be bought online for as little as $3. The phenomenon has received mixed reports from doctors and specialists, with some claiming that the digital drug may have detrimental effects on its users, while others claim that it may yield certain benefits.
The tunes are used “as a way of achieving a simulated mood or experience using a technique that involves playing two different tones simultaneously in order to alter brainwaves,” according to I-Doser, a leading online producer of binaural brainwave doses. When sounds of slightly different frequencies are played through each ear, the brain perceives a third "phantom" beat, which alters the brain. This phenomenon was discovered in 1839 by the German physicist Heinrich Wilhelm Dove.
The tracks come in a variety of available packages, such as recreational, prescription, fictional, sacred and celestial dose packs. The variety also includes sexual doses, designer doses, sport doses, game enhancers, pure doses, and more. The tracks can be downloaded on Apple iPhones and iPads, Android phones and tablets, and for personal computers, according to I-Doser’s website.
According to MTV, Lebanon has only witnessed two addiction cases so far. The government, however, is wary of an increased prevalence of this phenomenon, especially since the digital drugs are so readily available.
The outcry against the drug was first heard back in 2012, when Dr. Sarhan Al Meheini, deputy director of the Police Sciences Academy in Sharjah, called for a ban over the product, according to the Dubai-based newspaper The National. Despite the lack of scientific evidence for the beat’s adverse effects, Meheini warned that the digital drugs posed a threat to society.
However, Dr. Helane Wahbeh, an assistant professor in neurology, was quoted in a Washington Post article about binaural beats, saying that there “was no increase at all” in the brain-wave activity of people listening to certain frequencies. Researchers at Oregon Health and Science University led a study looking into the effects of binaural beats, which revealed that that its effects could have some long-term benefits. People who listened to binaural beats every day reported feeling less anxious and having an improved quality of life, Wahbeh said.
