Inhalants Kill!
http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/Atrium/5833/inhale.html
Margaret's Story
My name is Margaret.
Help me save one life! Please,
take time to read this!
It began on August 7, 1998. It was a Friday night. After a movie, “the crowd” moved to
someone's house to hang out. There
comes news of a fight. Being boys, they
all scrambled to see the fight. The
scenario or timeline that the police have been able to piece together was the
driver decided he wanted to buy cigarettes.
They stopped at a local store. The driver buys the cigarettes and
shop-lifts three cans of Glade Air Freshener and a bunch of plastic
bags – all the necessary ingredients of huffing. (aka Gladeators so named because of his
choice of Glade.) Keith and his friend were still in the car at this time.
The driver comes back and starts speeding towards where the
fight was going on. Without listening
to the pleas of Keith to slow down, etc., the driver chooses instead to start huffing at the wheel. He passes out. Keith and
his friend in the rear seat try to steer the car.
Of course they fail. The car
went sideways, hit a stone wall, then careened across a driveway and slammed
into a tree about 20 feet from the road.
The police found pieces of the car forty feet away.
KEITH DIED ON
IMPACT!
Keith Lawrence
Wagner 12-12-82 - 8-7-98
This boy who touched so many hearts; lives forever.
(This is his epitaph on his head stone.)
I'm writing to warn you about the very real, and
increasingly popular dangers of inhalant abuse. If you are a parent, please take a few minutes to investigate
whether your children may be experimenting with these dangerous (though
perfectly legal) chemicals. If you are
someone with siblings or other young people that you care about, please talk to
them. All young people experiment, but
inhalant abuse can cause serious injury or death with EVEN ONE USE.
Most parents are in the dark regarding the popularity and
dangers of inhalant use. Even fewer know the deadly effects the poisons in these
products have on the brain and body when they are inhaled or "huffed."
It's like playing Russian Roulette. The user can die the 1st, 10th or 100th time
a product is misused as an inhalant. The wrong choice of aerosol can starve the
body of oxygen, which can lead to unconsciousness and death,
commonly referred to as SUDDEN SNIFFING DEATH (SSD).
Children (ages 9 to 17) already have the
knowledge that common household products are inexpensive to obtain, easy to
hide and the easiest way to get high.
According to national surveys, inhaling dangerous products is becoming
one of the most widespread “drug” problems in the country. Examples of products kids abuse to get high
include model airplane glue, nail polish remover, cleaning fluids, hair
spray, gasoline, (from your own garage – the cap is removed from the gas
tank, and inhaled) the propellant in aerosol whipped cream, spray paint,
fabric protector, air conditioner fluid (freon), cooking spray and correction
fluid. A search of your own
home will produce at least one product that can be used as an inhalant.
These products are sniffed; snorted; bagged fumes inhaled
from a plastic bag; or "huffed" (inhalant soaked rag, sock, or roll
of toilet paper in the mouth) to achieve a high. Inhalants
are also sniffed directly from the container.
It is more popular than marijuana with young people. As little as $1.50 (lunch money) will pay
for a can of air freshener. More
than a million young people used inhalants to get high just last year. By the
time a student reaches the 8th grade, one in five will have used
inhalants.
I want the world of parents to be aware
of the dangers of aerosols. Please send
any comments/ edits/suggestions to Margaret:
E-Mail: margaret@nac.net
or for more
information call:
The Inhalants
Hotline
1-800-322-5585
National
Inhalant Prevention Coalition
1-800-269-4237
Thank you!
Keith’s Mom
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For
more TIPs on healthy alternatives to use of toxic products, contact:
Toxics
Information Project (TIP), 401-351-9193, TIP@toxicsinfo.org
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