The latest drug craze worrying U.S. health officials is apparently bug spray. Think Raid, not Off!.

Few people have looked at the bug sprays under their kitchen sink and wondered what it would feel like to snort or inhale it. Then again, most people don't look at dry erase markers and wonder what it would be like to sniff them. Nevertheless, health officials in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Indiana are blowing the whistle on what they believe is a nationwide crisis in the making: bug spray.

All three states saw a significant increase last year in the number of people using off-the-shelf bug killers to get high. On top of that, police noticed an uptick in street drugs being laced with aerosol products like Raid.

The active ingredients in bug spray -- specifically pyrethroids -- are generally believed to be safe for humans in small and limited incidental exposures. But health officials are warning that when deliberately consumed in large quantities, the chemicals have the same effect on humans as they do on bugs. It shouldn't be a surprise that the poison in a can is, in fact, poison in a can. Raid's catch phrase is literally "Raid Brand Kills Bugs Dead!" If something advertises the ability to kill something dead, don't consume it.

Bug spray typically works by overstimulating the insects by attacking their nervous systems, causing seizures and eventually death. The effect on humans is similar. People who get high on bug spray experience what is being referred to as a "zombie-state," which typically includes rage, muscle spasms, respiratory distress, and even sometimes a coma.

In addition to people deliberately trying to get high off of bug spray, law enforcement officials are also noticing that many street drugs -- most notably, marijuana -- are being laced with the pest spray. The result is a dangerously catatonic high that lasts upwards of 45 minutes. 

Experts are warning that the high these chemicals produce is literally the toxins attacking a user's brain and nervous system. There is no accepted "safe dose" of bug spray, and users have no idea how much bug spray was added to the drugs they are purchasing. First responders have noted that people high on bug spray or laced drugs can be combative one minute and then hit the ground seizing the next.

This all comes as state and federal officials have been cracking down on opioid abuse. President Donald Trump announced this month that his administration's goal is to cut opioid prescriptions by one third in order to limit the drugs' abuse. State health officials are warning that as access to opioids is limited, more people will turn to laced drugs to get their high. The opioid epidemic currently claims more than 110 American lives every single day.

It is important that as law enforcement agencies crack down on opioid abuse, they are prepared to respond to the drugs that fill those voids. 

It should go without saying, but health officials are hoping that the takeaway from this is to not inhale or consume bug spray. If something advertises its ability to kill animals or insects, ingesting will likely kill you as well.