Nitrous oxide - laughing gas - is used by dentists to relaxpatients, but the thought of teenagers inhaling it from whipped creamrechargers is disturbing to St. Charles Police Chief James Roche.
Roche wants to strictly control the sale of rechargers, smallcanisters of nitrous oxide that are used to whip cream.
A survey by the Illinois Department of Alcohol and SubstanceAbuse found 10 percent of Illinois junior high and high schoolstudents have taken various inhalants, including nitrous oxide.
Inhaling the gas could cause a variety of ailments and it couldalso be fatal, a medical expert said.
"If someone comes in and wants to buy a case of it and theydon't own a restaurant, the potential (for abuse) is there," saidRoche. "We have identified people who were buying quantities of itand reselling it to youths," Roche said.
Roche was rebuffed when he asked Lechters Housewares ofHarrison, N.J., to limit sales of the gas in its St. Charles store.
The company declined because stores already limit sales topersons over 18 and the product is locked up.
The company also doesn't want to inconvenience legitimatecustomers because of "anecdotal" reports of abuse not backed up bysurveys, said Ira S. Rosenberg, Lechters' vice president andcorporate counsel.
Roche wants rechargers sold in limited quantities to registeredbuyers 21 or older.
Nitrous oxide can cause headaches, vomiting, brain damage, coma,and death by suffocation, said Dr. Jerrold Leikin, director of thePoison Control Center of Rush-St. Luke's-Presbyterian MedicalCenter.
Officials blame the compound for the death in May of ArlingtonHeights college student Ryan Howell.
COOK COUNTY School Holiday Debate
Arlington Heights School District 214 is debating dropping YomKippur, Rosh Hoshanah and Good Friday as vacation days. Discussionstarts at Thursday's board meeting. In June, a federal court struckdown a state law mandating a Good Friday school holiday. In part because a tax cap may be imposed in Cook County, the boardof Reavis High School District 220 Tuesday approved a 9.1 percentlevy increase, which will cost taxpayers an additional $1.08 million.The board approved the hike over the objections of Burbank MayorHarry Klein. A live World War II pineapple-style hand grenade with its detonatingpin partly out was removed safely Tuesday from a pick-up truck thathad driven through Orland Park and Tinley Park. The driver's husbandspotted the device. The Cook County Forest Preserve District renamed Turnbull Woods Westin Glencoe for retired County Board member Mary M. McDonald ofLincolnwood. The land had been named for its previous owner. WILL COUNTY Waste Transfer Study
Plans for sending sludge from DuPage County to a site inunincorporated Will County near Wilmington hinge on soil tests beingconducted for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, whichwill decide if the land is suitable. Will County residents remainopposed to the proposal, but Will County Executive Charles Adelman(D-Lockport) argues the county must join the planning process or loseany voice on the matter. The "lost" notes related to a federal lawsuit alleging thatsuspended Will County Judge Patricia Schneider and former prosecutorCharles Bretz conspired to file false rape charges against Ruben Penaof Joliet were found untouched and filed in a locked cabinet, WillCounty State's Attorney James Glasgow said. New Will County Board members seated this week, all Republicans,include: Robert Williamson (1st District) of Beecher; Paul Drdak Sr.(3rd) of Romeoville; Dennis Kowalczyk (3rd) of Bolingbrook; andformer Will County Sheriff John Johnsen (6th) of Wilmington.
DuPAGE COUNTY Lobbyist Draws Boos
Naperville residents and officials are giving the Bronx cheer tothe city's hiring of former City Councilman J. Glenn Schneider as a$32,000-a year lobbyist in Springfield and Washington.
State Rep. Mary Lou Cowlishaw (R-Naperville) said the moneymight as well be dumped in the DuPage River. ; The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority Thursday opened an $8.1million interchange at Winfield Road in Warrenville on the East-WestTollway. Village officials say it will anchor the Canteradevelopment, a 650-acre, mixed-use project. New DuPage County Board members, all Republicans, are: boardchairwoman Gayle Franzen of Wheaton; Ken Moy (3rd District) ofHinsdale; Randall Hultgren (4th) of Wheaton, and Pamela Rion (6th) ofBloomingdale. Duilio "Dewey" Pierotti Jr. of Addison was elected president of theDuPage County Forest Preserve Board.
LAKE; McHENRY COUNTIES Price Tag Slows Changes
Lake Forest officials say costs are slowing the pace of makingfacilities accessible to residents with disabilities. Lake ForestSchool District 67 is moving to replace wood-chip playgroundsunsuitable for a student who wears leg braces. A stroke victim whouses a wheelchair is seeking accessibility at Lake Forest City Hall,which has no elevator. After residents raised a ruckus about noise from dirt bike racing inthe Williams Park subdivision, Lake Barrington trustees called forpublic hearings by the plan commission into a possible noiseordinance. It would regulate motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrainvehicles and watercraft. New Lake County Board members seated this week, all Republicans,are: Judy Martini (1st District) of Antioch; Jim Stanczak (8th) ofWaukegan, and Diana O'Kelly (10th) of Mundelein.
New McHenry County Board members, all Republicans, are: John JungJr. of (5th) Woodstock and Ervin T. Staveteig (3rd) of McHenry.
KANE COUNTY Alternative School Plan
Aurora city officials and three local school boards are joiningto develop a school for troubled youths who have been expelled fromtraditional schools. Aurora Mayor David Pierce said he wouldrecommend that the City Council support a start-up grant of $150,000to $175,000 plus an annual grant of $300,000 for the Aurora CommunitySchool.
The boards of Aurora East School District 131 and Aurora West 129have directed their staff to draw up an intergovernmental agreementand officials are awaiting approval from Indian Prairie CommunitySchool District 204-U, which serves parts of Aurora and Naperville.Organizers hope to draft an agreement by Jan. 1.
Students would be placed at business sites throughout Auroraand served by individual classrooms rather than a central site. New Kane County Board members, all Republicans, are: John L. Wood(3rd District) of Aurora; Dennis Koskinski (17th) of Elgin; CatherineHurlbut (19th) of Elgin and Donald Rage (23rd) of Sleepy Hollow.
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