Those sorts of promises prompted the Mustang Public School District in Oklahoma, to send a letter to parents warning them about the “digital drug craze,” in 2010 during the height of the i-dosing scare. One is actually called “Virtual DMT Trip.” The files are also sold for their “relaxing” and “meditative” effects, and for eliciting lucid dreams or relieving insomnia. The names of some of the files sound like they could be weed strains, including “Winter Solstice” or “Dark Forest.” Others are more explicit, carrying pictures of mushrooms. I-Doser makes no bones about its wares being drug-like.

An outfit called I-Doser, for instance, made its name in so-called “i-dosing,” selling sound files that supposedly get one high for between $2 and $10. And the phenomenon has become so mainstream that it’s become a business.

ASMR doesn’t work for everyone, but it seems harmless enough for those who partake. Either way, the effect is real enough to the people experiencing it. Debate abounds over whether the effect is biological, like the high caused by THC or LSD, or merely psychological, like the rush some people get when the band comes back in after a false ending. Generally, ASMR includes things like people whispering, or crumpling paper. Suburban moms and guys in trucker caps are listening to sound files that some claim have relaxing or pleasurable effects, such as tingling sensations in the head and spine. But in the last decade, the popularity of ASMR has exploded. These “drugs” were audio files that supposedly had a euphoric effect, known as an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). It was exactly what it sounded like: a new drug was being delivered over the Internet and into the brains-and souls-of our precious children. Back in 2010, a spate of scare stories about “digital drugs” flashed across local TV news channels.

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