OT but important: Kids and dusting-long

[Guest guest]

>>

 

 

 

This is a bit depressing, but I felt that it needed to be shared. Especially

since 99% of the women in the groups are mothers, especially to kids that

fall in this age range.

 

My aunt works for the city of Atlantic City, NJ and this was recently a

topic of discussion at a city board meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

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 5:30 am the next morning

>> Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for

>> work. He was propped up in bed wit h 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 can't 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 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 you're

>> 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 it's

>> 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 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 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 can't 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

>>

>>