Drink Bleach

[muddawg95yj]

http://www.al.com/news/press-registe...550.xml&coll=3



Officials: Juveniles drink bleach to mask drugs
Thursday, May 03, 2007By VIRGINIA BRIDGESStaff Reporter
BAY MINETTE -- Three Baldwin County juveniles reported this week that they drank bleach before taking drug tests in attempts to skew results, authorities said. And the county's sheriff said he was taken aback when he heard a high school student ask if consuming bleach would mask the use of drugs.

"Apparently, there is a rumor going around that you can drink bleach to pass a drug test. That is simply not true," said Maj. Anthony Lowery, a spokesman for the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office. "On top of doing illegal drugs, they are introducing another substance to their body that can cause additional damage."

On Wednesday afternoon, paramedics responded to a young man at the Baldwin County Courthouse in Bay Minette who collapsed after his Juvenile Court hearing, said Baldwin County Circuit Court Judge Carmen Bosch. The juvenile fainted because he had not eaten, but he told paramedics checking him out that he drank bleach earlier in the week in an attempt to throw off a pending drug test of his urine, Bosch said.

The young man, who is about 17 years old, was given food and removed from the courtroom on a gurney as a precaution, Bosch said. The teen was not identified because he is a minor.

A court security officer said that two juveniles told their probation officer earlier this week that they consumed some bleach in attempts to pass drug tests, Lowery said. The juveniles, who ultimately failed their drug tests, were later transferred to the Baldwin County Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Bay Minette, Lowery said.

Officials said they did not know how much bleach the three juveniles consumed.

Baldwin County Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack Jr. said a student participating in Tuesday's high school Student Government Day activities asked officials during a presentation on drug testing if bleach would mask the use of drugs.

"To be quite honest, all of us kind of looked at each other and said, 'Where did that come from?'" Mack said.

Jonathan Armstrong, program director for Baldwin Court Services, which provides treatment, referral, drug testing and other services to people convicted of drug or alcohol offenses, said he has known people to try to influence a drug test by putting bleach directly into the urine scheduled for testing. Still, Armstrong said he hasn't seen that method used in about two years.

A drug test involves placing a device in urine that reacts to the substance; colored bars reflect a positive or negative result, Armstrong said.

"The story with bleach is it will affect the test if you add the bleach to the urine, but if you drink it, it is not going to have any effect on the test," said John Fisher, director of the Alabama Poison Center.

The consumption of chlorine bleach, and the substances some manufacturers mix with it, most commonly cause vomiting, upset stomach, heartburn and in more extreme cases chemical burns on the inside of the mouth and the esophagus, Fisher said.

The taste of bleach usually keeps people from drinking much of it, Fisher said, and the body can dilute the substance.

"The outcome for most bleach exposures is fairly benign," he said.

Scar tissue that follows the chemical burn in more severe cases can constrict the esophagus, Fisher said.

"If you did have a fatal outcome with a bleach exposure, it will probably be secondary to something else," he said, such as erosion in the esophagus, the stomach leaking into the body or vomit getting into the lungs, he said.

If a child reports drinking bleach, parents should give him or her about four ounces of liquid, such as tea or water, to dilute chemicals that might still be in the esophagus, Fisher said.

"Other than that you can call the Poison Center; we will be glad to take a complete history and make a recommendation," he said.

To contact the Poison Center, a public service available 24 hours a day, call 1-800-462-0800.

While bleach can be harmful, it is used for human consumption in some emergency situations. One of the recommended methods for disinfecting water after a storm calls for adding one teaspoon of unscented liquid chlorine bleach per 5 gallons of water.

[TheRedHorseman]

Aaah Darwin, so close, yet so far.


Though I must admit that I helped spread that rumor to the paranoid potheads in high school whenever they asked for help.

[cegusman]

I like to drink Drano before my piss tests

[johncj5]

Originally Posted by muddawg95yj

Officials said they did not know how much bleach the three juveniles consumed.

Not nearly enough.