"dusting???"

specialk · by **specialk** on Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:01 pm

If you have children....

>>> Subject: If you have or work with children...you should know about this
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> 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
>>> he 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 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 was wrong. It's not just compresses 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.
>>>
>>> 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 cant help but wonder If I died and went to
>>> Hell.
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>> Tracey Lowey, B.A., M.S.
>>> Crime Analyst
>>> Targeted Enforcement Unit #583
>>> Calgary Police Service
>>> Office: 206-8360

Scootie · by **Scootie** on Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:10 pm

Thank you for posting this warning. I don't have any words that would actually comfort. I just cannot imagine the pain. Thank you for putting your story out for others to see and hopefully learn from.

I have copied this note to distribute to friends.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Scootie · by **Scootie** on Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:17 pm

OOPS just realized this was a forward. Thank you for forwarding the story though. It is powerful.

Linda Faye · by **Linda Faye** on Mon Jun 13, 2005 2:14 pm

Thank you for posting this!! That is so sad

. I am going to sit down with my oldest daughter this evening and have a noice long talk with her about this. She know's that we don't approve of smoking, achole(sp), and drugs. But I need to explain to her what this stuff can do to them!!
Thanks again
Linda faye