Manny Laureano

Just got this.

I checked it out, it's not urban legend.
>> READ THIS......
>>
>> Dust Off (or a variant of the product) is available everywhere
>> there's a
>> computer.
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> First I'm 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 wont.
>>
>> 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 one of them they
>> were
>> all used. I talked to my kids and my two 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. Just before midnight 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 propped 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. Its just
>> compressed air. It cant hurt you. His best friend said no.
>>
>> Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains a
>> propellant called R2. Its 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 cant 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. ITS NOT AN OVERDOSE. Its 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 eye's 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 its 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.
>>
>> Its easy to say hey, its my life and I'll do what I want. But it
>> isn't.
>> Others are always effected. 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 cant 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 wont talk about it. The
>> other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I cant 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 all seem to 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 cant help but wonder If I died and
>> went to Hell.
>>
>>
>> This Officer is asking for everyone who receives this email to forward
>> it to everyone in their address book, even Law Enforcement Officers.

ML

Ralph

I also belong to a sportfishing forum and saw the same exact story posted there. If this is true, it's tragic and people with kids need to know about it. I've never heard of this type of "drug" abuse. Could this be just a sick joke someone thought up? I can't say that I hope this story is true, but I have to wonder. I just talked to an ER doc friend of mine ( I'm a doc too)who said he's never heard of it or seen it, although kids will do anything to get high.

http://www.sportfishermen.com/board/...ead.php?t=2950

wiseone2

I went to the Urban Legends web site to get more information.
It's here.
http://www.snopes.com/
Wilmer

Mzony

Wilmer,
Your posted site confirms the story is actually true.

Mike

cmcdougall

I know guys who do this regularly this is no urban myth, its a very short high and can become very addictive because it is so short and easy to do and because one can carry it wherever you go without arousing suspicion.

Manny Laureano

I always check with snopes.com before posting something like that.

It's a great clearinghouse for information bad and good.

ML

trumpetgirl612

i know a girl that died doing this :(

don't take it as a joke, PLEASE!!!

tpter1

This practice is also known as "huffing". Very popular among kids, as you said Manny, from 9-15. These products are legal, but when "huffed" are deadly. Some more so than others. Some other products include oven cleaner, rubber/contact cement, PAM cooking spray used to be used, and the propellant in canned whipped cream. (aka "whipits").

Parents-talk to your kids about this. Be sure you know where they are, what they are doing, and who they are with. Be sure your kids know the dangers of huffing and stay away from it and those who do it. It IS drug use/abuse, it CAN and WILL kill you without warning, usually the first or second time. Kids on here...share this info with your freinds. Keep your ears open and keep other kids from doing this. Talk to each other.

BigBadWolf

Huffing is a big problem amongst kids and adults as well. Apparently gold spray paint is a popular one. This is a nice mugshot courtesy of thesmokinggun.com

brian moon

Sounds similar to doing helium. I forget what the term for it is. Very dangerous and disturbing. Parents stay aware of what your kids are doing.