I know this strays a little from what we usually talk about on "our"
list-serv. But after reading this, I thought it was important that I followed this
to the list. I know that I have Dust-off or similar products in my library.
I never allow students to use the product. But ---- well I am glad I know
this is a possibility with the product.
I checked this on snopes.com and apparently this is true. Please
forward to others, it could save a life.
_http://www.snopes.com/toxins/dustoff.asp_
(http://www.snopes.com/toxins/dustoff.asp)
Cristal
Dust Off- A Serious Fatal Hazard
First IM going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is
Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is
known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs.
At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita.
I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and
general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line
of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he
likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs
into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you.
The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs. I
have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least
once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't.
I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in
February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They
were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a
3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off
a computer.
A few weeks later when I went to use them they were all used. I talked
to my kids and my 2 sons both said they had used them on their computer
and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10
dollars I paid for them.
On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the
3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust
Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.
On March 1st I left for work at 10 PM. At 11 PM my wife went down and
kissed Kyle goodnight. At 530 AM the next morning Kathy went downstairs
to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was sitting up
in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to
him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her
like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up.
She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had
the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new
can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.
I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse
and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner,
after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was
in his system. No other drugs.
Kyle had died between midnight and 1 Am.
I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9
through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take
off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10
seconds. It makes them dizzy.
A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about
a month before. Kyle showed his best
friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. It's just
compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.
Kyle's dead! Kyle was wrong. It's not just compresses air. It also
contains a propellant. I think its R2. It's a refrigerant like what is
used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas.-Heavier than air. When you
inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out.
That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed.
It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It
can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU.
The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level
that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go
randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you
die. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian roulette.
You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You
usually die as your breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of
finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when
he died. Why his eyes were still open.
The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its
huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together, but it doesn't
fit here. And that's why it's more accepted. There is no chemical
reaction. no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals.
Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It
probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.
It's easy to say hay, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But it
isn't. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our
family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be
fixed. The pain is so
immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all
the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't
really care.
My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only
sleep in our room at night and my wife, I can't even describe how bad
she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we
were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.
After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the
school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found
a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about
another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather
affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug
problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So
rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they
found, they hid it.
The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they the
school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the
media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house. We need to get
this out of our homes and school
computer labs. Using Dust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know
about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They know
about it.
April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his
15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living
room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the
bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder if I died and
went to Hell.
Jeff Tracey Lowey, B.A., M.S.
Crime Analyst
Targeted Enforcement Unit #583 Calgary Police
Service Office:
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