In Augusta, Georgia, a dangerous new fad is springing up; teens are huffing on Freon out of air conditioners to get high. Georgia poison control warns that “all kids need is a screwdriver, they can actually suck the Freon out of the vents to get high, a high that can kill them”.
In the YouTube video on the news article, two teens walk up to an air conditioner and start puffing away. Later in the video, a college student hugging Freon from a plastic bag falls over and has a hard time keeping his composure but only seconds later, he asks for another Freon fix.
Dr. Mark Lopez from GHSU Pediatric Emergency says that, “Freon itself is a hydrocarbon so it’s going to cause brain damage and that the high is due to your not getting enough oxygen to your brain and therefore that’s what gives you the high, so the dangers of doing it over and over again is that you’re killing off brain cells”.
Dr. Lopez went on to say that, “even one time doing this can cause some changes in the heart response of reaction and you can die instantly from that”.
Signs of huffing include frostbite, whiteness around the nose and slurring of speech. Dr. Lopez says this is a real threat for teens and suggests that all parents talk to their children about huffing.
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