The Doctors: Teens Distilling Alcohol from Hand Sanitizer
The Doctors TV show talked about a dangerous new trend among teens–distilling and drinking alcohol from hand sanitizer.
Eight teens have visited the emergency room after drinking the gel in the last few weeks, and 2600 cases have been reported in California since 2010. According to the label, hand sanitizer contains 62% Ethyl alcohol, which can make a shot of 120 proof liquor.
Dr. Travis Stork said that theoretically, you could get drunk off of a small amount of hand sanitizer. Dr. Lisa Masterson wondered if they were going to have to put hand sanitizer behind the counter at the pharmacy.
Inactive Hand Sanitizer Ingredients Are Harmful When Ingested
A new way for teens to get their hands on alcohol is to distill it from gel hand sanitizer. The Doctors recommend buying foaming hand sanitizer or wipes to keep your kids away from the booze.
Dr. Andrew Ordon said this is something that could get you into trouble quick, and your breathing and respiratory system will shut down. Dr. Jim Sears suggested that parents buy foaming hand sanitizer or wipes. You can also buy alcohol-free hand sanitizer.
Dr. Stork said that it’s important to realize that there are inactive ingredients in hand sanitizer that are very bad for your health.
The Doctors: Teens Garage Hopping to Find Alcohol and Chemicals
According to Dr. Stork, underage drinkers will do whatever they have to to get their hands on alcohol. He showed a video of “garage hopping,” where teens sneak into your garage looking to steal things or take something they can ingest.
He asked the audience how many of them lock their doors at night, and not that many people raised their hands. Police are saying that there’s a garage hopping increase around the country.
Drs. Masterson and Sears said that we need to keep our teens busier and make them get a job or something. I can’t even imagine doing this! What is wrong with kids today? Go read a book or learn something new.
The Doctors: Garage Hopping Increases in Warmer Weather
Dr. Ordon said that he keeps a beer fridge in the garage, along with a lot of other people across America. My parents keep all their beer in the garage, and if I had a garage that’s probably where I would think to put it.
Sergeant Neil Hennelly from West Linn, Oregon called in to talk about this scary trend. He said garage hopping has been around for awhile, but they see a spike in the warmer weather.
The Doctors: Lock Your Garage at Night to Prevent Garage Hopping
Hennelly said that the last group they picked up, boys ages 15-17, said they were looking for alcohol and whatever they could grab. He said that gasoline and other chemicals that you keep in your garage are also potential targets for kids wanting to get high, along with paint, insect killers and pool chemicals.
Dr. Stork said that all of these things could kill you, and if you’re a teenager, it’s just not worth it. He advised people to lock their garages at night. Find out more about garage hopping in the video below.
Leave a Reply