I got an  e-mail in my inbox today that I thought I would share with you.  I looked it up on snopes.com first to find out if it was a true e-mail or not before I posted it as advice: www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/dustoff.asp

I just thought I would share it with the parents with older children and to warn the parents for the future.  I am not sure if this has hit Canada yet, but I think this e-mail is from the States and Australia I am also not sure about but we better watch out for it.

Here is the e-mail: (sorry it is long)

This is really scary and I can see it happening… glue and other
compressed
>gasses have been done in the past… lets hope none of the kids in our
lives
>are doing this… no more dust off in my house
>
>Subject: Latest Drug in Middle School - 'Dusting'
>
>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
it's
>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 1:00 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 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 you're 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 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.