Shannon Holbrook had no idea that the drug her son was abusing was right there in her house. In plain sight.
It's not illegal. In fact it's probably right there on the shelf in your home near the computer.
15-year-old Matt was addicted to computer duster. He inhaled it to get a quick high. "He was using three cans a day...when he left I found can upon can of this stuff," Shannon told us.
She says her once kind son changed from a good student and gifted athlete, into an angry addict.
Hooked on the chemicals in the dusting product.
Computer duster contains chemicals similar to those found in gasoline or glue. It can cause severe burns and if inhaled, can lead to permanent brain damage or sudden death.
Yet many parents don't even know their teens are inhaling or dusting--as it is called.
Dr. Timothy Wiegand, a toxicologist at the University Of Rochester Medical Center, says teens tend to do this in groups. "It gives them an intoxication...a drunkeness."
The high only lasts for a few minutes so many teens keep inhaling to get another buzz.
Wiegand says teens have died from "dusting." Their hearts stop, they fall down and they don't get up.
Dr. Wiegand says parents don't consider these products dangerous because they are sold in stores. So even when they learn of this abuse they don't recognize the dangers.
"Some people don't think it's that bad, it's a solvent. It's in their house. It can't be as bad as cocaine or heroin. At least they are not on the street buying drugs."
Dr. Wiegand says it is really dangerous and toxic. "Kids can do this one time and fall down dead."
In states like Alaska where inhalant abuse is prevalent, computer duster is only sold behind the counter.
Shannon Holbrook says she wishes stores here would limit the sale of these products.
Her son Matt is now in rehab and doing well. But Shannon says she will always worry.
"I want him to be better."
The National Council On Alcoholism and Drug Dependence says in a youth risk survey, 9 percent of teens, some as young as 12 or 13, admitted they tried inhalants.
That's versus 3 percent who admitted they had tried cocaine or heroin.
Dr. Wiegand says these dusting products are cheap, accessible and easy to hide.
That's why he says parents need to police what their kids are doing and look for signs of abuse.
Dr. Wiegand says "If there are dozens of cans, that's a red flag. Even if there are only a few, talk about this with your kids and see if their friends are doing it."
