Videos of adolescents in altered states wearing headphones litter YouTube. Most pant and wince from listening to droning, pulsating soundtracks known as iDoses.

The teens have supposedly been victimized by a new digital drug culture that targets vulnerable young people who have money to spend.

Teens can legally partake of 'binaural' audio downloads with nothing but an mp3 player and an internet account. The downloads claim to deliver a "high" that is similar to drugs like LSD and Crystal Meth.

The iDoses cost anywhere from $US2.75 for a standard "heroin" track to $US199 for the "Gates of Hades", which promises users the benefits of "Smoke and torment. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Death. Destruction".

There is no scientific evidence to back up some of the outlandish claims on iDose websites. However, some schools in the US have written letters to parents and banned iPods and phones to block students from accessing them.

National and NSW education officials say that they have yet to encounter reports of school children downloading "digital drugs" in Australia. However, drug abuse experts say it is only a matter of time before the habit catches on in the country.

"Safe, effective, and legal alternative to recreational and prescription drugs," is how one I-Doser website describes its wares, but drug abuse experts are not concerned so much with the content of the downloads as the drug culture they promote to young and susceptible minds.

"We are seeing drug culture seep more and more into the youth market, where people can make a quick buck. That is a very sad part of this that they are targeting the group most vulnerable - the young who see this as being a cool thing to do," said Paul Dillon, founder of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia.

The iDose Web site, which is loaded with drug lingo and images of pills, contain warnings for downloads such as: "Not for the new doser, this dose should be considered advanced. As one user puts it: like I just inhaled 3 tanks of nitrous and passed out."

The iDose website also lets subscribers become dose "dealers." This feature would let users sell their own downloads to their circle of friends.

"The earlier you find yourself in that culture the more problems you are likely to have in the future," Dillon said.

Droning binaural beats, which are based on alpha and delta waves have been used for purposes pertaining to meditation and relaxation activities. However, the scientific consensus is that the beats simply impact mood in the same way relaxing music might.

Aside from the colorful product descriptions, even the I-Doser website refrains from making claims that its products might have any tangible effect.

"I-Doser makes no medical, psychological, physical, or otherwise, claims to the effectiveness of the I-Doser Application or it's included or purchased doses. The use of the I-Doser Application and included or purchased doses should be used for entertainment purposes only," the Web site reads.

In an interview with the Wasington Post, Daniel Levitin, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal who studied the effect of music on the brain said that there was no mechanism for binaural beats to mimic the effects of drugs.

"Binaural beats are a real thing, in the sense that they exist ... Musicians often use binaural beats to interesting effect - there's a whole minimalist genre called "drone music" - but that's for aesthetics, not for mind alteration... Our neural chemistry is soothed or uplifted by music the same way that it's affected by looking at puppies or sunsets. Our brains are in constant dialogue with our surroundings, and not just when high," he said.