Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Syracuse Police are seeing demand increase for a dangerous drug called "water." The drug often causes violent and psychotic side effects, and local mothers are organizing a Friday night forum to shed light on the growing problem.
As the head of Mothers Against Gun Violence, Helen Hudson fields a lot of phone calls from parents worried about what their kids are into. She'll never forget the call she got a year ago, about her own son.
Hudson's son had smoked a cigarette dipped in embalming fluid (the chemical used to preserve the dead), and spiked with PCP. "And when I approached him, I mean...oh...the look in his eyes. I raised this child for 28 years, when I looked into his eyes, I didn't know who he was."
Five years ago, NewsChannel 9 interviewed Elliot Green behind bars. He had gotten high the same way as Hudson's son, and then tried to run down two police officers with his car. "It made me feel invincible, like nothing could stop me," he said.
While not new, the street demand for the drug, called "Water," appears to be gaining.
There is no easy answer for curbing this drug trend, there never is. In this case, however, police say there is an added difficulty: There are no legal consequences for anyone caught with embalming fluid. "There's no charge that we can charge them with. All we can do is take it away from them, but there's nothing to stop them from possessing this stuff, so it makes it difficult," says Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler.
Chief Fowler says better regulation is needed and agrees with Hudson that more education is important as well.
Friday night's forum will feature several panelists including the Onondaga County Health Commissioner, Dr. Cynthia Morrow. The forum will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Corcoran High School Cafeteria.
