HIGH ON HOUSEHOLD CLEANER

Children are getting high on household cleaners and air fresheners, a
retired Calgary drug detective warned Red Deer parents Tuesday.

Steve Walton, who worked in the undercover drug section of the Calgary
police, said inhalants such as household cleaners, paints and glue are the
drug of choice for some children.

Inhaling Wizard air freshener was a problem in the United States that spread
all the way to youths in an aboriginal community in Northern Alberta, he
said.

"Inhalants are the most dangerous group of chemicals because they were never
intended to be used as drugs," Walton told about 100 parents at Notre Dame
High School. Earlier in the day he spoke to 1,100 students.

Such substances cause instant brain damage and can even kill. In one case, a
12-year-old boy sniffed gasoline and, shortly afterwards, lit up a
cigarette. He burned to death.

Walton, lead drug instructor with the Central Alberta PARTY (Prevent Alcohol
and Risk Related Trauma in Youth) program, said street drugs are aimed at
children through various marketing schemes.

LSD, also called cartoon paper and cartoon acid, is placed on tiny pieces of
blotter paper marked with pictures of Pac-man and Spiderman.

Walton said he once seized 1,200 ecstasy pills that featured Pokemon
characters. Ecstasy is a powerful stimulant related to the Rave culture. It
can be deadly and addictive.

In some cases, teen addicts are putting their urine in a bottle, mixing it
with juice crystals and drinking it because it still contains traces of the
drug. Ecstasy doesn't metabolize well.

Ecstasy users often become like Alzheimer's patients, he said. Their mental
capacity diminishes and they suffer insomnia.

Drug dealers made crack the number one type of cocaine through a successful
marketing strategy, said Walton. They convinced young people it's
inexpensive and there's nothing wrong with it, he said.

In fact, crack is more expensive than powdered cocaine. Crack costs up to
$200 per gram while powdered cocaine costs up to $120 per gram. Crack is
also more addictive and the high doesn't last as long. For dealers, it's
more profitable.

Drugs:

Walton said the youngest crack addict he encountered was an eight-year-old
girl.

"There is to barrier - social or economic - to street drugs."

Methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant also known as speed and
crystal meth, is the most dangerous street drug, said Walton. The drug can
damage people's health in a week or two.

Some pharmaceutical drugs are also being used to get high. Gravol must now
be purchased through a pharmacist because it was being used as an
hallucinogen. Nytol sleeping aides produce the same effect as Gravol in
higher doses.

Parents also need to watch for use of marijuana, magic mushrooms, heroin and
ketamine which is dog tranquilizer, said Walton.

"If children get involved in drugs they can be lost quickly," he said.

"Drugs always win. If people don't stop taking drugs, the powerful drugs,
they will lose their lives."

Signs if a child is taking drugs:

* a sudden change in friends, activities or appearance such as weight loss

* unexplained signs of illness of emotional distress

* sudden dramatic drop in grades

* defensiveness or secretiveness about their room or articles or areas

* a sudden change in financial status

* an attachment to out-of-the ordinary items