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Stories of teen deaths from deliberate choking to achieve a euphoric state have appeared in the news media during recent years. Deliberate choking is viewed as a game by many teens and has been variously referred to as the “choking game,” “blackout game,” “pass-out game,” “scarf game,” or “space monkey.” To estimate the incidence of this practice, the CDC searched for newspaper reports of probable choking game deaths since the 1970s and collected and verified reports of deaths posted on two choking game awareness websites (http://www.chokinggame.net and http://www.stop-the-choking-game.com).
Of 106 deaths identified, 24 were excluded because age was not reported or they likely were not the result of the choking game (asphyxiation had occurre…