Two Students May Face Expulsion for Huffing

Via Fort Mill Times in South Carolina:

Two middle school students in South Carolina were suspended after they were found huffing a “gas like substance” in a bathroom at their school. Reports say the substance was similar to the gasoline used in model cars, and the students were using it to get high. Although the Sheriff’s office was called, a district representative did not believe the students had been charged. The students were suspended for ten days, and will face a hearing with school district officials. District policy recommends expulsion in cases of substance abuse.

The school’s drug prevention program does cover huffing, and the director of a local drug awareness program encourages parents to talk to young children about inhalant abuse and to be careful when storing containers that could be used for huffing.

Teen Dies after Inhaling Helium

Via The Mail Tribune in Oregon

Police responded to a 911 call in Medford, Oregon, and found a teenage girl passed out in the apartment of a 27-year-old woman. Officers discovered that the 14-year-old girl and several other teenagers had been drinking, smoking marijuana, and inhaling helium from a tank. Emergency services took the collapsed girl to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy will be necessary to determine the exact cause of death, but one of the officers said, “[I]t certainly appears that the inhalation of helium was a large factor in her collapse and eventual death.”

Huffing Propane While Driving

Via The Centre Daily Times in Pennsylvania

Last Friday, a Pennsylvania man passed out after huffing propane while driving. The man was driving on Interstate 99 when he passed out, and his car went off the shoulder and hit a fence and a tree. Officers charged him with a DUI.

Man Found Unconscious Twice in One Day

Via WINK in Florida:

Wednesday afternoon in Florida, officers found a man passed out in some bushes, but he refused medical treatment. Although officers did find an empty aerosol can, they did not see the man inhaling its contents, so he was released.

Later that afternoon, another police officer found the man unconscious in the bushes near a mall parking lot with an aerosol can in his hand. When the man woke up, the officer observed that he “appeared to be under the influence of something.”

The man refused medical treatment once again. EMS personnel said that this was the fifth time that week they had been sent out for the same man for the same thing.

The man revealed that after the earlier call, he had purchased another aerosol can at the mall. He said, “I huff the can because it’s a quick way to escape from everything.”

He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for Inhalation of a Harmful Chemical Substance.

Caught Huffing Behind a Community Center

Via rrspin.com from North Carolina:

A 39-year-old Roanoke Rapids man was found inhaling toxic vapors from a can of dust remover behind a community center. Police also found a crack pipe in his pocket, and he was arrested for “inhaling toxic vapors and possession of drug paraphernalia.”

A Roanoke Rapids Police Department Captain says that when an older individual abuses inhalants, it usually means “they’ve done it before.” Because of this, he says, “Parents of teens need to be vigilant of substance abuse. They’re easily purchased and inexpensive.”