New 'Drug' fad killing kids -...........................pass it on
Cst. Dan Kostuik, #3217
Calgary Police Service
Serious Habitual Offender Program
403.206.8737 office
403.804.9221 cellular
403.974.6172 fax
------------------------------------------------
D U S T I N G
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 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 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 5:30 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. It's just
compressed air. It can't hurt you. His best friend said no.
Kyle was wrong. It's not just
compressed
air. It also contains a propellant called 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 ***ulative 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 you're breathing it in, if not you die within 2 seconds of
fini****ng
'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 hey, 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 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 2:30 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.
This Officer is asking for EVERYONE
who
receives this email to forward it to everyone in their address book, even
Law Enforcement Officers. Even if you do not have children, you can still
forward this to friends & family who do.
Gail Holotuk
Coroner Agent - Kamloops
BC Coroners Service
Phone: 250-861-7429
Toll Free: 1-888-991-2111
Fax: 250-861-7515
|
