By Annie Reynolds
While training for the St. George marathon, Joy Terribilini carries two things: a water pack around her waist and a small canister of pepper spray in her hand.
'It makes me feel safe,' said Terribilini, a senior from Santa Rosa, Calif, majoring in Spanish. 'Pepper spray is an easy defense.'
Although pepper spray is a common defense for joggers, it can be turned against them.
'Unless you really are trained to use it, you''re better off not using it because it can be turned on you,' said Patricia Mills, Prevention Education Specialist at the Provo Center for Women and Children. 'It''s just like a gun -- if you pull it out and you''re not willing to use it, you can get hurt.'
The active ingredient in pepper spray is oleoresin capsicum, which comes from cayenne peppers. Oleoresin capsicum is an inflammatory agent that causes the capillaries in the eyes, nose, throat and lungs to dilate. This results in temporary blindness and inflammation of the breathing tube.
Pepper spray companies design the cans with safety features to prevent accidental or incorrect firings so that users don''t become victim to their own spray.
'The biggest problem with pepper spray is women spraying themselves,' said Hawk Harper at Runners Corner. 'We had a problem once, when a large dog jumped out at two women. One woman sprayed herself and the other missed the dog.'
Online companies such as BeSafeproducts.com feature pepper spray cans that have a safety position, so that the can will only fire when the actuator, where the spray comes out, is in the center. These safe cans also only fire when it is accessed from the rear, preventing owners from spraying themselves.
Runners Corner in Provo sells a handheld pepper spray that is a simple point and shoot for $19. It fires in a direct stream and is very effective, said Harper.
Classes are another effective way to learn how to use pepper spray and effective self-defense techniques. One of the classes Mills teaches is RAD, Rape Aggression Defense. The classes are for women only and are taught by University Police officers specifically trained to teach RAD techniques.
'The RAD class teaches you how to be assertive and how to get out of situations,' Mills said. 'The class teaches about what happens if you use pepper spray.'
Pepper spray is allowed on the BYU campus and is advocated by campus police.
'I think very few women carry pepper spray,' said BYU Crime Prevention Officer, Randy O''Hara. 'I would encourage women to have it on campus and everywhere they go. It''s a great tool for anybody as long as it is used correctly.'