House Pages Expelled for Chemical Abuse

By Jennifer Yachnin
Roll Call Staff

Friday, Jan. 16; 09:44am

Seven students were expelled from the House Page School last Friday after they were found abusing household cleaners.

School officials discovered the students apparently using aerosol dust cleaner — which can contain pressurized chemicals such as difluoroethane or tetrafluoroethane, often used on computers — as inhalants.

The practice, commonly known as “huffing,” involves intentionally concentrating chemicals such as household cleaners, hygiene products or glue into a plastic bag or other container, and then inhaling the substance to produce a brief high.

“The seven pages were dismissed for violating the policy,” said House Administration Committee spokesman Brian Walsh, who declined to elaborate. “We don’t comment on personnel issues.”

more...http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/3971-1.html

Huffing is one of the worst things you can do to your brain.

That is to say, they dissolve (and penetrate into) just about anything. The fumes are readily absorbed into the blood of the veins in the sinuses and go DIRECTLY into the tissue of the brain, where they quite literally dissolve brain tissue (and quite rapidly, I might add). Brain tissue, unlike lung tissue, etc., does not "heal".

That old thing about how "huffing" rots your brain is not an urban legend. It is, in fact, an understatement.

I know that it is the ongoing and latest big concern for drug and alcohol counselors of kids and teens. It is kind of shocking that teens or young adults with the type of opportunities that they have would put themselves at that much risk.

"They will be brain dead soon." maybe its an effort to emulate their leader.

Why would someone sniff cans? What planet are we on?

dalai

have to consider the reality of 'huffers' ever returning to 'normal'. I have worked with some 'huffers' and there is not very much one can do, other than to try and find ways to end the use. Even in an NA group, there is not much help for long term huffers, as their minds are so far gone that they cannot understand what is happening to them. I prefer to work with adolescent alcoholics, because I have the opportunity to work on the root issues early in their lives. I don't want them to grow up to be what I was. By the way, did you know that children can actually legally buy alcohol? Next time you are in the grocery store, look at the ingredients in Listerine. It is the 'drug' of choice for many adolescent alcoholics (of course, the consequences include wiping out all of one's intestinal flora, with the resultant intractable diarrhea, wieght loss and general malnutrition.

They can head over to be interns at EIB, right?

their secrets for creating new Republicans..

enough that they can afford real drugs?