Fwd: Warning about new Drug known as Dust Off bei ng used by our kids PLEASE READ AND PASS ON

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Subject: Dusted Off

I'm sure quite a few of you have seen this before but when I see things like

this I send it every time to keep it in the back of everyone's mind. I checked

this out on snope.com and it's true. The web address is at the bottom of the

story. It takes a few minutes to read but it is soooo worth it. I hope none of

us ever have to worry about anything remotely close to this. M.

Subject: Latest Drug in Middle School - 'g'

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 it's 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 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 themfor 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 goodnight. At 5:30 am the next morning Kathy went

downstairs to wake 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. 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. 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 how to do this

about a month before. 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.

was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains a

propellant called 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. 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. ITS 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 you're breathing it in. If not you die

within 2 seconds of finishing " the hit. " That's why the straw was still in

'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 its more accepted.

There is no chemical reaction, no strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing

signals. 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 hey, 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 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 '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 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 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.

" Life "

I thought you might find the following article from snopes.com interesting:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/dustoff.asp