Teenagers getting drunk on hand sanitizer???

Wow the things crazy teenagers will do for a cheap night of drunken fun. The LA Times is reporting that in recent months, six teens in the San Fernando Valley have been hospitalised with alcohol poisoning after drinking hand sanitizer. This now has public health professionals freaking out about the dangerous “new” trend.

Turns out some kids have been paying attention in science classes, and discovered that salt separates the alcohol from cleaning products such as Purell hand sanitizer. Since hand sanitizer is 62% ethyl alcohol, a 120-proof liquid, a few shots can have a person so drunk to the point of passing out.

Whatever happened to the days where teenagers would wait outside bottle shops, in hope that an free-spirited adult would buy their booze for them?

BuzzFeed has posted 14 Things You Need To Know About Drinking Hand Sanitizer

1. A bottle of hand sanitizer contains the equivalent of five hard liquor shots.
2. Teenagers mix it with Listerine.
3. Other teens use salt to separate the alcohol from the sanitizer, making a potent drink similar to a shot of hard liquor.
4. You’ll get drunk REALLY fast.
5. Drinking hand sanitizer was originally a trend in prisons in New Zealand.
6. Getting drunk off of hand sanitizer is most popular in Alaska, Missouri, and California
7. Drinking hand sanitizer can cause diarrhea, blindness, memory loss and damage to your internal organs.
8. A man in Australia once drank 6 bottles of hand sanitizer and survived.
9. There are a bunch of videos on YouTube of kids drinking it.
10. You might kill someone if you drink it.
11. Seriously, you’ll kill someone.
12. The Albuquerque Police Department is currently asking stores not to sell mouthwash and hand sanitizer to someone who appears to be drunk.
13. If parents buy hand sanitizer, they should purchase the foam version rather than the gel type because it is harder to extract the alcohol and teenagers may be less likely to drink it.
14. Experts are also saying parents shouldn’t leave hand sanitizer around the house.

Underage drinking vs Drinking hand sanitizer?

In my opinion the former is the lesser of two evils. So if you’re going to drink, do so in moderation.