What the hell are these teens thinking?
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/health/hand-sanittizer-chicago-teens-get-high-buzzed-dangerous-level-alcohol-content-20120425Chicago Teens Get High Off Hand Sanitizer with Dangerous Level of Alcohol Content
Chicago - Teens across the country and here in Chicago are getting high and buzzed on hand sanitizer, and it’s anything but clean. It's a dangerous trend with viral YouTube videos showing how it's done.
Teens getting drunk on hand sanitizer were the number two trending topic on Google Wednesday.
One shot of this clear germ-killing liquid is equivalent to nearly two shots of 80 proof vodka and no identification is required to make this purchase.
One teen told FOX Chicago News he was asked to try the new trend in his school hallway but he just said no.
Student Lionel Uzoho said when others asked him to try getting high off hand sanitizer, he didn’t want to.
“Typically hand sanitizer is about 60-65 percent alcohol,” Illinois Poison Conter Medical Director Michael Wahl said. “That translates to about 120-130 proof so if you think about vodka is 80 proof a shot of hand sanitizer, which would be really hard to put down because it's kind of gross, is about a shot and a half of regular 80 proof vodka.”
The Illinois Poison Center said two cases of teens getting high on hand sanitizer were reported in 2011 - not an epidemic but a concern.
“A lot of this might be a question of access. Is this really what you want to have in your house? If you're really concerned, you could go with liquid soap and water,” Wahl said. “[Or] have a discussion with your child about alcohol - you're not ready at 13, you're not ready at 12.”
The trend even caught the attention of night television host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel. He and guest John Cusack shared a shot of hand sanitizer on Tuesday night's show.
Medical professionals said the hand sanitizer high is no laughing matter.
Effects such as diarrhea, to blindness or vision problems, to memory problems and of course internal organs - some of these effects are irreversible.
“Alcohol can always be deadly,” Wahl said. “If you drink too much, you can go into a coma, you can stop breathing.”
The Illinois Poison Center sayid most of the calls they've received are from concerned parents of young children who used too much hand sanitizer.
In California, more than half a dozen teens were hospitalized with alcohol poisoning after drinking hand sanitizer.
