This is very important for us all to know about

The Dusting from a can Problem for children

This is very important for us all to know about. It could happen to any of us. Passing along such information is one way we can help each other and our world. Rev. Father Abbot +Gregori, SSJt.

If you work with kids, have children or grandchildren, PLEASE read this officer's story carefully. You can also verify the story at:

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

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 nation wide 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 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. 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 is  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 can’t describe it. There is 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. 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  2:30in 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.

               MAY GOD WATCH OVER YOU AND KEEP YOU SAFE.

Rev. Father - Abbot +Gregori, SSJt.

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