Teens are Now Drinking Hand Sanitizer to Get Drunk

As if being the parent of a teenager wasn't scary enough, there's something new to be worried about. Teens are now drinking hand sanitizer. The alcohol based sanitizing product is now being guzzled by teens looking for a buzz.

Most recently in Albuquerque, New Mexico the drinking of hand sanitizer was linked to at least two deaths in the span of just five weeks. The LA Times reports that at least six teenagers were rushed to the emergency room in two different hospitals in the San Fernando Valley  for alcohol poisoning caused by drinking hand sanitizer.

Hand sanitizer is often mixed with mouthwash to make a powerful cocktail. Salt is also used to separate the alcohol from the other ingredients. A bottle of hand sanitizer has the equivalent of five shots of hard liquor.

The states where the trend is most popular are Missouri, California and Alaska, but there are Youtube videos out there where kids are videoing themselves drinking hand sanitizer.

The side effects of ingesting hand sanitizer are diarrhea, blindness, memory loss and internal organ damage.  Not to mention alcohol poisoning.

Buzzfeed