Duster Alert

[Ghillie973]

Just thought I'd post this for you parents who use duster in your GBB. I was sent this by a cop I know in Toronto (not this guy in the story).




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 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. Its just compressed air. It cant hurt you. His best friend said no.

Kyle's death

Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains a propellant. I think its 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 hay, 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 know about it.

[PTE. Pyle]

thats freaky that kids have nothing better to do than huff duster gas i kow there has been alot of couverage from the media over the last while about this. its still prety freaky. i think they should start adding thyals to the gas similar to propaine and natural gas. a stinky smell might detur young people from huffing the shit

[Matt_M]

gas smells bad but kids still huff that.

[yanhchan]

well some kids are stupid and bored so they just get high for fun...idiots

[R.A.T.M._JLD]

was that what they where doing in that movie 13

[Skruface]

I feel bad for the parents; they did their job. Darwin is a bitch sometimes.

[Kedirkin]

OMFG DUS ThiS MeeN AiRS0FTZ R TeH B4NN3D???

KD

[mcguyver]

it's sad but that's sort of "natural selection in society". kids were sniffing solvents in the 1950's, glue in the 1960's, gasoline in the 1970's and so on. this is not a new issue and is probably as old as civilization itself. kids by their nature are fearless, inventive and willing to try anything. banning something because of this is the last desperate act of an irrational society. you can't ever solve this type of problem nor control it. kids are invincible you see and rebellious to those who "know better" they must learn about the consequences of lifes decisions the hard way. sometimes this leads to injury or death. it is regretable but also necessary to our survival as well. if 1 kid dies and many others here about it, maybe only that 1 death will occur and other kids may heed the warning. just like pack animals we witness the mistakes of other members of our society and the smart (ie those destined to survive) will heed the warning and our society also survives and evolves. it's kind of a cold and heartless analysis considering that somebody's brother and son died, but i think it is a reasonable one.

[oueleric1]

Kids have to find something else to get high off of, gas is too expensive. Seriously though like mcguyver said kids are always trying to get high off of something, we can't bann everything. Informing kids and parents is the best way to stop things like this from happening.

[The Saint]

In some poor countries, kids sniff fermented human waste if they can't afford glue and such. This sorta thing has been and always will be a social issue, banning the items themselves don't solve nothing.

[Xenos-Fear]

It's sad to see that getting a ''feeling'' at young age is getting drugs, or trying to get drugs or trying to get a feeling of drugs without drugs... and using some shit at Canadian Tire or something like this. Man, education and society !!! We got a major problem here. Our society show us only... man, you wanna be cool and be happy ? Get some beer, get drunk, and smoke some shit to get high !

What is it show in Beer ABS ? Simple, get some beer ? Get some fun !

Movie ? Get drugs, this will bring you girls and fun !

Man !!! There is other way to get a feeling ! Rush Adrenaline ! *Airsoft*

Be with a girl, not drunk, not in a high... on a plain... in a beautiful summer night... looking at the star... THAT is a Feeling ! She will probably bring you more than a feeling ! :tup:

Not getting drunk, high... sick and vomit on the floor for the rest of the night !!! Maybe on this GIRL ! DAMN !

Sorry, I'm just ... to see how the world is falling apart...

[attack-beaver]

no matter what parents do there kids are going to do something stupid to get high and be "cool" in they're friends eyes. but may the childs soul rest in peace forever.

[Predator]

For those who may think this is a hoax, (like I did) I found out it was indeed true.

A search of Google using the keywords: "dust off death" resulted in the following hits.

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=...ff+death&meta=

[Mr Jon]

Thats why we pulled duster gas from our store shelves. It's only available by request locked in the back tech room.

[|2enegade]

A couple weeks back I remember hearing on 680 News about a couple kids who got high and died of compressed air, and thinking "wow, who the hell would do something like that?" Well, now I guess I know...

Though, "getting it out of the homes" is as viable as getting knives out of homes: You shouldn't get rid of something you need just because its dangerous, rather you should educate those who would use it abusively on its danger.

p.s. my can of Dust-Off clearly contains a warning:

Originally Posted by back of Dust-Off can

"Inhalant abuse is illegal, and can cause permanent injury or be fatal. Please use our product responsibly.
Warning: Keep out of reach of children. Intentional misuse by deliberately concentrating and/or inhaling contents may be fatal."

it's pretty hard not to read the warnings on a can of volatilized compressed air...