Dusting, Are Your Children Doing It?

I received an email about a month and ago that concerned me. I read it and verified it on Snoops.com. The story I am going to tell you about is 100% true and heartbreaking.

This is a story about a police officer named Jeff Williams. Jeff has a retired K-9 that used to be certified in drugs. I guess you could say Mr. and Mrs. Williams felt comfortable in knowing that their children would not be bringing drugs into their household. Little did they know they would be the ones to bring in the fatal drug that killed their son.

Jeff enjoyed computers, wether it was building a new one or fixing an old dusty one. In February 2005 he decided to start rebuilding one of his older computers. He went to one of the local stores and purchased Dust Off ( Dust Off is compressed air that cleans dust off your computer). A short time later Jeff was going to use the can and realized it was empty. When he asked his two sons they just claimed they had used it on their computer and played around with it.

On February 28, 2005 Mr. Williams went back to the same local store and bought a jumbo can of Dust Off. He went back to his home and put it beside his computer. AT 10 PM on March 1st, Jeff left for what he thought was just another night at work. Little did he know he was in for some serious life altering changes. As usual Mrs. Williams kissed her boys goodnight just before going to bed around midnight. The next morning she went into her son Kyle's room to wake him for school before she left for work. Kyle was kind of propped up in bed with his leaning to the side and his legs crossed. When Kyle didn't respond to his mothers calls she then went over to him and shook his arm. He was pale as he fell over. The Dust off straw was still in his mouth, and the can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.

Kathy Williams, a nurse and Jeff Williams, a police officer had never heard of this deadly new craze. An autopsy revealed nothing other than the propellant from Dust Off in Kyle's system. Absolutely no other drugs!

Apparently this new craze is done primarily by children between the ages of 9 and 15 years old. It's called Dusting. It gives a high for about 10 seconds or so and makes them dizzy. Many kids are misled into thinking it can't hurt you because it's only compressed air. They are terribly wrong. Not only is it compressed air but it also contains a propellant called R2. R2 is a refrigerant like the one used in your fridge A gas heavier than air. When inhaled it replaces all the oxygen in your lungs and keeps it out, causing the dizzy buzzed feeling. This chemical slows the blood flow to your brain and heart.

The sad truth of the matter is there are no warning signs that we as parents can look for. No specific or even vague level that kills you. It is completely random. This odorless killer has and will take lives. This is not an overdose, it is Russian Roulette. It's not a drug that you can say I don't feel good or I think I've had enough. When you have had enough you are dead.

Before I wrote this article I went to a local computer store and found a similar product. A week or so later I enlisted my daughter (11) to go in and buy some. To my amazement it was sold to her. I immediately went back in and spoke with a manager. He also had not heard of such a thing. I was refunded my money and the manager was going to call his district manager to see what they could do to stop the sales to young children.