Angel, good job and information.  Thanks for sending.  Helen, our
Internet sleuth, checked it out and Urbane Legends says it is true.


earlier, Angel, wrote:
>I would have sent this to Kathy personally but I didn't save her address.
>Beside I think this is important enough for us all to know.  I live in
>Cleveland as well so this message has a personal ring for me as I also have
>a 15 year old son.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Cornell Ligon" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Monday, July 25, 2005 9:26 PM
>Subject: Re: [blcompusers] off topic dust-off
>
>
> > HI All,
> > I work in both areas mentioned, but more so in Lake County where the city
>of
> > residence is located. I also work in Crises situations and I just recently
> > prepared a report for my boss in that exact topic, so I forwarded the
> > officer's statement to her, because she has more direct knowledge of the
> > situation than I do. I cannot go into details, but that exact story is the
> > reason why the topic was researched for our past July meeting.
> > I also worked in Cleveland with the children of that city directly, and
>he's
> > right, you would think of 'drug' problems to be more acute there, but it
> > does exists everywhere and kids unfortunately will find a means of getting
> > high.
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> > Cornell
>
> >    Dust Off- A Serious Fatal Hazard
> >    First IM 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 won't.
> >
> >    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. It's just compressed air. It can't hurt
>you.
> > His best friend said no.
> >
> >    Kyle's death
> >    Kyle was wrong. It's not just compresses air. It also contains a
> > propellant. I think its R2. It's 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 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 eyes 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 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 hay, 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 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.
> >
> >
> >
> >    Commentary:
> >    Sadly, the information outlined in this email forward is true. On the
>2nd
> > March 2005, 14-year-old Kyle Williams of Painesville Township, Ohio died
> > after inhaling Dust-Off. As outlined in the email, Dust-Off is a product
> > that contains a compressed gas used for removing the dust from computers.
> > Kyle's father, Jeff is indeed a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio.
> >
> >    Unfortunately, many consumers are under the mistaken impression that
> > Dust-Off and similar products contain a seemingly harmless product -
> > compressed air. In fact, such products are commonly referred to as "canned
> > air". However, the products actually contain a compressed gas, NOT
> > compressed air. Because of this misconception, parents and children may
>not
> > realize how dangerous inhaling them can be. This is an important issue, as
> > such seemingly trivial misconceptions can have a quite powerful influence
>on
> > the way consumers conceive of and use a product. In fact, a representative
> > from Falcon, the company that manufactures Dust-Off, has contacted me
>after
> > reading an earlier version of this article. He states that:
> >
> >      We are hoping you can help clarify a misconception about our product.
> > As you noted, most people refer to our product as "canned air", when in
> > reality the product is filled with a compressed-gas. Our company makes it
>a
> > practice to never refer to the product in such a manner as it is
>misleading
> > to consumers. We believe that referring to our product as "canned air"
>gives
> > individuals a false sense of comfort and, therefore, they believe it to be
> > harmless if directly inhaled.
> >

John