Would you think of using hand sanitizer for anything other than cleaning your hands when soap and water were not available? Your answer is probably “no.” Just in case you haven’t already heard, drinking hand sanitizer is a dangerous new trend with teens today. This is becoming a national problem. Hand sanitizer is 62 percent ethyl alcohol which can be as high as 120 proof alcohol. Whiskey or vodka is normally 80 proof. Many times teens are taken to the hospital with alcohol poisoning from drinking hand sanitizer. They will not have alcohol on their breath, but their blood alcohol count will be elevated. Just a couple of squirts of hand sanitizer could equal a couple of shots of hard liquor. The teens have even found a way to distill the hand sanitizer into a liquid form to drink. If they don’t distill it, they just squirt it out of the bottle and take it. Any parent needs to keep track of how much hand sanitizer is used in the home. Buy the foam version rather than the gel type. They can still get high from the foam version, but not as easily as the gel type. Teens also use mouthwash, cough syrup, or vanilla extract to get high from the alcohol content in these items.
Do You Know What Huffing Is?
Inhaling volatile substances to reach intoxication effects is called “huffing.” This is also a trend with teens today. It is easy for them to get high from this because the substances used to huff are usually household cleaners or substances found readily around the home such as gasoline or kerosene. The teen inhales gases using plastic bags held over the mouth or by breathing solvent soaked rags, or sometimes they just breathe the fumes in from the open container of solvent. The effects of inhalants range from intoxication such as you would get from alcohol to euphoria and vivid hallucinations.
Many experience headaches, nausea, vomiting, slurred speech and wheezing. They also may have a rash around the nose and mouth. Brain damage is seen in long-term huffers. There have been cases where teens have died from a lack of oxygen, pneumonia, cardiac arrest, or aspiration of vomit. Any parent should speak to their children and teens about the dangers of huffing.
Have You Ever Heard of Whip-pits?
You may have heard about Demi Moore, a celebrity figure, having a problem with complications from using whip-pits. This brought her drug abuse to light and she entered rehab at that time to seek help for her problem. Whip-pits are another big trend for teens these days. A whip-pit is a small canister of nitrous oxide gas used in making whipped cream in recipes. Now the whip-pits are being used in a recreational manner by, most often, teens for its dissociative effects. Individuals many times develop strong psychological dependencies to the whip-pits. Many users are injured by the release of the super cold gas from the charger. This is capable of burning the user’s face, nose, lips, tongue, and throat.
Users inhale the nitrous oxide out of a bag, balloon, or some other container. When used as an inhalant whip-pits cause temporary euphoria, dizziness, and mild hallucinations. Nitrous oxide is also known as “laughing gas.” Getting too much of this substance can cause you to have seizures and unconsciousness.
Don’t Forget About Prescription Drug Medication And The Liquor Cabinet.
Of course, these are not new ideas for teens, but still can be a problem for parents. Teens often times think stealing a few beers from the refrigerator or a bottle of liquor is nothing of any harm. Many adult alcoholics started drinking by doing this very same thing. Of course, today prescription drug medication is more available than ever before. Check and make sure that your prescriptions are in a safe place. Count your pills and make sure each one is accounted for.
Teens are under so much peer pressure today, and some try so hard to fit in with the crowd that you don’t know what they may do just to get approval from certain so-called friends. Talk to your teens frequently about the dangers of all of these substances and how they can ruin or even end their lives.
About the Author
Marilyn Kegley works with several Christian drug treatment centers to educate individuals about the dangers of substance abuse. After watching numerous loved ones struggle with addiction, her goal is to help as many people as possible get effective and successful rehabilitation treatment.
