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Feb 26, 2008 4:14 pm US/Central
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North Texas Teenagers 'Dusting' For Cheap High
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ―
There is a new form of inhalant abuse gaining popularity in North Texas. Chances are that many teenagers already know about it, but how many parents are familiar with
dusting?
It involves air dusters that can be easily purchased for $5 at the store. However, many teenagers are buying them and not cleaning anything. They are being used for a cheap, and potentially deadly high.
The air dusters are regularly used to clean computer keyboards and small crevices by shooting out a stream of air. But young people are inhaling the air directly out of the can.
Teens inhale the product behind closed doors, in bathrooms and bedrooms at home, where parents or adults are not watching. But videos posted on YouTube show young people using the air dusters to get high.
Hollie Higgins of the Dallas Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse commented on the YouTube video being posted online. "Our worry there is, it's going to continue the prevalence of the use," she said, "because it's making it seem normal."
As many as 14 percent of middle school and high school students in North Texas admit to inhaling aerosol products, according to Higgins. "They want to try something new, try something different," she said.
"Access is a key problem," said Higgins. These products are available on the store shelf. Anyone can walk in and buy a can. Sometimes, cans are already in the home.
The YouTube videos show teens inhaling the product and commenting on the resulting high.
"One more time, one more time, more, more."
"I can't feel my face."
"Oh yeah, another high, baby."
"It's great, oh my God."
The users might not be saying such things if they knew that dusting could kill them instantly.
Jeff Williams is a police officer in Ohio. His wife found their son, Kyle, dead in his bedroom after he was dusting. A straw pointing out of the can was still caught in his mouth. "I don't want anyone else to feel the pain that I do," Williams said. "I thought I knew about all the drugs. I didn't know about huffing. It's the only one I didn't know about, as far as I know. But I know about it now. It's too late."
It is also too late for three teenagers from Sacramento who were killed in a car crash. The Jeep Liberty they were riding in clipped a telephone pole and smashed into a concrete wall at about 90 miles per hour. They were suspected of dusting.
Inhalants, including the air dusters, are absorbed into the body almost immediately. They get into the blood stream. Higgins explained, "It affects organs as well as bones. That's short term and long term. Plus, the possibility of immediate death from heart attack."
There are signs that parents can look for, that could indicate that kids are dusting. Experts noted changes in their appearance and behavior. "He came in the house and told me his tongue hurt," said Williams. "I asked him why his tongue would be hurting, and he said he didn't know."
Meanwhile, the makers of these air dusters clearly warn consumers on the side of the can about the dangers of inhaling the product. Companies are also taking extra steps to combat dusting, adding a component to the product that gives it an unpleasant taste.
In Texas, it is illegal to inhale products like air dusters. It is also against the law to knowingly deliver inhalants to people under 18 years of age.
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