Natural selection at work

[Borgholio]

http://www.wsmv.com/story/31060286/inve ... rier-teens

GREENBRIER, TN (WSMV) -

Law enforcement in Greenbrier is investigating the deaths of two teenagers.

One teen, 16-year-old Logan Stephenson, was found unresponsive in his home in Greenbrier and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Another teen was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he later died. The second victim has not yet been identified.

Police said they believe the teens may have ingested racing fuel mixed with Mountain Dew.

The Greenbrier Police Department said it is not clear if the two incidents are related, but they believe this is isolated to one specific group of teens. Foul play is not suspected in either case.

The medical examiner's office will be releasing a report about the teens' cause of death within the next two weeks.

“I feel quite certain these people did not understand the potential lethality of this ingestion,” said Donna Seger, medical director with the Tennessee Poison Control Center.

Seger said this is the first time she has heard of the mixture, known as “Dew Shine.” PepsiCo distributes a non-alcoholic drink under the same name unrelated to the dangerous mixture.

“It’s a mixture of Mountain Dew and then methanol in racing fuel,” she said. “There’s a little bit of methanol in the alcohol you drink, and that’s said to cause the hangover. To drink straight methanol is really a recipe for disaster.”

Seger said two other teens who drank the mixture were treated and released.

“It’s affecting things on the cellular level,” Seger said. “It’s threatening the eyes, can cause one to go blind.”

There is now a memorial at Stephenson’s parking spot at Greenbrier High School. While the city mourns the loss of two teens, Seger said she hopes to reach others with a warning.

“If you don’t know what’s in it or how dangerous it is, you shouldn’t take it,” she said.

A vigil for Stephenson will be held at the high school on Tuesday night.

Anyone with information about the deaths of the teens is urged to call the Greenbrier Police Department at 615-643-4467.

Read more: http://www.wsmv.com/story/31060286/inve ... z3yT5S6UWQ

[Napoleon the Clown]

Well, my guess would be that these kids realized getting race gas (methanol, as per the article) is easier than getting a pack of Bud Lite. They thought "alcohol is alcohol" and wanted to have a bit of fun...

Too bad methanol is toxic as hell and doesn't get you drunk. I was going to make a flippant comment, but thinking on it it's not impossible that these kids heard how race fuel is made from alcohol and were unaware that it's not the ethanol kind. Which is somewhat understandable. Most gasoline these days contains ethanol, so... This may also be a consequence of not having actual discussions on drinking with our children.

These two were far from the first teens to get killed doing something something incredibly unwise, and they're not gonna be the last...

[Lord Revan]

Yeah this seems like teens not getting that the little difference between Ethanol(C2H6) and Methanol(CH4) is the difference between getting drunk and ingesting leathal toxin.

[Flagg]

Looks like the Dew did them.

[mr friendly guy]

The funny thing is, to counteract methanol poisoning they should drink ethanol.

[Khaat]

I remember that from an episode of House, M.D., the death-row inmate drank copier toner or something and House fixed it by taking shots with the guy.

[Lord Revan]

Yeah this seems like teens not getting that the little difference between Ethanol(C2H6) and Methanol(CH4) is the difference between getting drunk and ingesting leathal toxin.

a slight correction here CH4 is methane not methanol Methanol is CH3OH and Ethanol is C2H5OH

granted drinking Methane isn't anymore healthy then drinking Methanol.

[Grumman]

This may also be a consequence of not having actual discussions on drinking with our children.

"Don't drink random shit" is something these idiots should have learned by the time they started primary school. Child-proof caps exist to protect toddlers, not people old enough to drive.

[FTeik]

How likely is it, that they wanted to drink the "DewShine" made by Pepsi and got this racing-fuel stuff instead?

[Raw Shark]

Very, very unlikely. The soft drink is clearly-labeled and is gladly sold to much younger children at a lot more locations than racing fuel. These were teenagers doing the same sort of shit as my friend in high school who tried to smoke a banana peel and toothpaste because he heard it could get you high.

[Korto]

granted drinking Methane isn't anymore healthy then drinking Methanol.

Since it's got a boiling temperature of -161C, I imagine not.