Ingestion of hashish oil-filled condoms

Abstract

Three cases of ingestion of condoms containing hashish oil are reviewed, these being the first reported in the Australian literature. Conservation management resulted in the uneventful passage per rectum of a total of 66 intact, drug-filled packages. There was no evidence of rupture of the condoms and ensuing intoxication, or of intestinal obstruction. Clear radiological evidence of a hashish oil-filled condom was present in only one of the three cases on admission to hospital. There are no recorded human fatalities from toxicity after cannabis ingestion, and drug-filled condoms will usually traverse the normal gastrointestinal tract spontaneously. A policy of non-intervention is advised only when the drug is known to be cannabis. Operative treatment is necessary in the presence of more potent substances such as cocaine, and also to relieve intestinal obstruction.