Teens getting drunk on Hand Sanitizer

tlcya

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I saw this being covered on GMA this morning and gagged.

Gross and very dangerous. Apparently, hand sanitizer is the new cough medicine, in that it is legal for teens to access and yet can be misused to achieve a sort of drunk.

http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/24/11370274-dangerous-trend-teens-guzzling-hand-sanitizer

There's a new dangerous trend among teenagers -- trying to get drunk by guzzling hand sanitizer, the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles reports. Recently, 16 teens in the Los Angeles area have been treated for alcohol poisoning after drinking the cheap liquid.
 
Oh this is so gross. And I thought the cheap vodka I drank in college tasted like rubbing alcohol....
 
I can't even stand the smell of the alcohol in the hand sanitizer, gack, I cannot even imagine the taste. Apparently there are videos of young people doing this on youtube but I really have no wish to see it first hand so I will not link them here.
 
thank you - I had no idea (and have a teen). I shared on my FB - knowledge is power!

Mel
 
Does 16 kids in one metropolitan area really constitute a "trend"? :waitasec:

Granted, that's 16 kids too many, but I'm not inclined to panic that this will become a widespread practice among America's youth. Reminds me of the recent stories about kids soaking tampons in vodka and, well, you know. Doesn't seem like that one really took off either, and I can't IMAGINE why. :D
 
Perhaps you are right. But with youtube and twitter and facebook being teens main form of communication it only takes minutes for something to become a "trend" nowadays ;)
 
From paint/marker sniffing to aerosol huffing to bath salts (still not clear on what that one entails) to this. Is society raising really stupid kids or what?
 
Yuck! They put stuff in hand sanitizers to make it taste really bad to keep toddlers from eating it. I guess teens aren't as smart as toddlers.
 
From paint/marker sniffing to aerosol huffing to bath salts (still not clear on what that one entails) to this. Is society raising really stupid kids or what?

I don't think kids are any more stupid today than they used to be. When I think of the stupid stuff my friends and I did... :blushing: Huffing has been a problem at least since my parents were teens (model airplane glue anyone?).

I think stories like these are good to have in your arsenal of knowledge, but not sure I would be putting my hand sanitizer under lock and key. If I notice that someone is using a lot of it I would stop buying it.

Apparently they put it in strong flavored drinks (coffee and kool-aid were 2 examples) to keep out the bad taste, but I agree that it sounds atrocious.
 
When I was working for a school district, a parent brought me a printed off email about kids getting drunk off of hand sanitizer. That has been 5 years ago, I don't think this is really a new thing.

And I'm with the person who said they cannot stand the smell of the alcohol in hand sanitizer. Yuck!!!! I use Witch Hazel as a make-up remover and it reeks of alcohol as well. I thought I was going to puke the first time I used it.
 
This is totally insane. I would think the taste would be terrible and steer them clear of this. It sounds rather dangerous.

I know for years teens have indulged in various things. We had glue sniffing so many years back and paint huffing.

I don't use chemicals and I try to avoid them at any cost. I can't imagine anyone getting passed the smell.


Goz
 
This is totally insane. I would think the taste would be terrible and steer them clear of this. It sounds rather dangerous.

I know for years teens have indulged in various things. We had glue sniffing so many years back and paint huffing.

I don't use chemicals and I try to avoid them at any cost. I can't imagine anyone getting passed the smell.


Goz

I'm with you. We are having the house painted right now and there was some extensive wall repair needed in one of the rooms where we had a leak. I could barely sleep last night because I felt like I was suffocating!
 
I wish these kids realized they are not getting drunk, they are poisoning themselves. I don't know how they can even stand the taste, I have accidentally got some in my mouth after using it on my hands and brushed my teeth and used mouth wash several times to get rid of the taste and I could still taste it, I would rather wash my mouth out with soap before getting that in my mouth again. The sad part is why are these kids feeling the need to get high at such a young age? They are in need of help and our over worked under payed health care system can't afford to help them.
 
What do these kids NOT ingest to try to get high or drunk?! Have they nothing better to do with their time??
 
When I was working for a school district, a parent brought me a printed off email about kids getting drunk off of hand sanitizer. That has been 5 years ago, I don't think this is really a new thing.

And I'm with the person who said they cannot stand the smell of the alcohol in hand sanitizer. Yuck!!!! I use Witch Hazel as a make-up remover and it reeks of alcohol as well. I thought I was going to puke the first time I used it.

OH no I hope some kid doesn't get a bright idea to try Witch Hazel, I've heard of it but never used it. Thanks for the warning.
 
UGH, its all gross...wth is wrong with these kids. today; the worse you are or crazier you are...the cooler you are.

wow.

.
 
Gross and very dangerous. Apparently, hand sanitizer is the new cough medicine...

My best friends child just OD on Triple C (Skittles) so the cough meds are still pretty popular unfortunately. Apparently this is a problem on HS campuses, yet I only heard of it when my friend called me from ER. I had to explain to my boys never to take anything a "friend" gives them, even if they say have a couple of skittles.

http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/dextro_m/dextro_m.htm
 

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