Deadly risk no laughing matter

By Deanne Goodman, KTVZ.COM

Teens say if it comes in a can, there's a good chance one of their friends has tried huffing it.

"I guess they put a towel around Axe body spray, shake it and sniff it" says one teen.

"Canned air, stuff you use to clean the keyboard, they are using that," said School Resource Officer Steve Craig.

Various teens I talked to say they've heard that their peers will "take the nozzle of that dust off stuff, put it in their mouth, and spray. Your lungs can collapse. Teens also do that with hairspray you put a towel over it. I saw it on TV."

You can see it all over YouTube. Teens post their own home videos, with laughter in the background.

But inhalants are no laughing matter. It's estimated more than 100 people die each year from huffing.

"If someone's huffing, there's no evidence in the body. We can't catch them," Craig said.

Getting away with being high in class means some students will try just about anything, even spices.

"I know this kid who came to school and had three tablespoons of nutmeg. I was like, 'Have fun with that.' Sure it tasted delicious," says one teen.

They also say they know teens who eat massive amounts of poppy seeds in hopes of getting high.

Debbie Houser, who owns Nature's Food Store in Bend, believes someone stole her seven-foot poppy plant for that exact reason.

"I wondered where did my plant go?" she said. "I realized kids took it to get high. I bet they didn't get high from it, but I miss my plant."

Nutmeg, poppy seeds, and inhalant highs are blogged about all over the Internet for teens to read. But most say their hear stories first-hand from their friends who are willing to experiment with just about anything.

For more information on this topic, you can go to:

http://www.theantidrug.com/ or www.inhalant.org

They are good resources for parents.