Teens Drinking Hand Sanitizer To Get Drunk
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Angela Jackson
Howard County General Hospital's Dr. David Monroe tells WBAL Radio's Angela Jackson about a new trend that teens are using to get drunk
Doctors are warning parents and teens about a dangerous new trend after some kids around the country have landed in emergency rooms after drinking hand sanitizer.
David Monroe, a pediatric ER physician at Howard County General Hospital, says he should not be surprised by the cases.
"Teenagers are pretty creative and inventive and they've had other household products that they've taken to try to get high or drunk on in the past," he tells WBAL Radio News.
"I guess drinking soap should be a surprise, but it is not a great surprise," he says.
He and other doctors at Howard County General have seen a recent case show up there.
"In order to extract the alcohol from the hand sanitizer, [teenagers] have to either distill it or use a combination of other chemicals to get the alcohol separated from the soap, so that can lead to all kinds of problems," he says.
Symptoms include vomiting, an altered mental status and significant changes in behavior.
Monroe adds that parents should consider buying the foam version of hand sanitizer instead of the gel type because it is more difficult to extract the alcohol from the foam type.
Monroe says that for years teens have used over-the-counter products like cough syrup for a quick high, but this trend is the latest one.
A year ago, doctors were not dealing with drinking hand sanitizer to get drunk, he says.
http://wbal.com/article/89259/3/template-story/Teens-Drinking-Hand-Sanitizer-To-Get-Drunk
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Angela Jackson
Howard County General Hospital's Dr. David Monroe tells WBAL Radio's Angela Jackson about a new trend that teens are using to get drunk
Doctors are warning parents and teens about a dangerous new trend after some kids around the country have landed in emergency rooms after drinking hand sanitizer.
David Monroe, a pediatric ER physician at Howard County General Hospital, says he should not be surprised by the cases.
"Teenagers are pretty creative and inventive and they've had other household products that they've taken to try to get high or drunk on in the past," he tells WBAL Radio News.
"I guess drinking soap should be a surprise, but it is not a great surprise," he says.
He and other doctors at Howard County General have seen a recent case show up there.
"In order to extract the alcohol from the hand sanitizer, [teenagers] have to either distill it or use a combination of other chemicals to get the alcohol separated from the soap, so that can lead to all kinds of problems," he says.
Symptoms include vomiting, an altered mental status and significant changes in behavior.
Monroe adds that parents should consider buying the foam version of hand sanitizer instead of the gel type because it is more difficult to extract the alcohol from the foam type.
Monroe says that for years teens have used over-the-counter products like cough syrup for a quick high, but this trend is the latest one.
A year ago, doctors were not dealing with drinking hand sanitizer to get drunk, he says.
http://wbal.com/article/89259/3/template-story/Teens-Drinking-Hand-Sanitizer-To-Get-Drunk
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