One in Six Teens Use Inhalants: New Inhalant Data from Partnership for Drug-Free Kids

The results of the 2013 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study have been released and show that one in six  (16%) teens have used an inhalant at least once in their lifetime.

Canadian Woman Found Huffing in Yard

Via British Columbia's Terrace Standard News
A woman returned to her home in British Columbia on July 24th to find a woman huffing solvent in her yard while one other person kept a lookout. Both persons left when the woman arrived. Local police are investigating.

Pennsylvania Man Found Huffing Inside Walmart Pharmacy

Via the Times-Herald in Pennsylvania:

Earlier this month, police were called to a Walmart for a case of  "retail theft, public intoxication and a possible medical emergency."

Officers found the man semi-conscious, lying on the ground near the store's pharmacy entrance, bleeding from the face and hands with three cans of computer duster beside him. He was treated at the scene and issued a criminal summons. 

Homeless Man Passes out in North Dakota Restroom After Huffing

Via the Bismark Tribune in North Dakota:

A 33 year old homeless man locked himself in a Rent-A-Center restroom for several hours and was arrested for huffing computer duster.

Store staff called police after noticing the man had been locked in the room for hours and was unresponsive. Police found him face down on the floor with two cans of computer duster. He was arrested, charged with inhaling vapors-a Class B misdemeanor, taken to the hospital to be treated and then taken to jail.  He was ordered to serve 20 days in jail and given one day credit for time served.

Maine Man Found Unconscious on Riverbank After Huffing Paint

Via Central Maine:

Earlier this week, a bicycle rider noticed a man lying on the bank of the Kennebec River and after unsuccessfully trying to wake him, he called 911.  When they responded, police found a 20 year old male unconscious and intoxicated with empty alcohol containers near him and an empty paint can nearby. 

The first rescue scene on the scene called for additional manpower to assist in removing the man and he was transported to the hospital.  He is suspected of having huffed paint "which is illegal use of an inhalant and is a criminal offense."

Illinois woman arrested for huffing and shoplifting

Via The Chicago Tribune

According to police reports, an Illinois woman was arrested for shoplifting and unlawful use of intoxicating compounds at a store on the evening of July 16^th. The woman confessed to taking a can of dust cleaner and huffing it in the bathroom of the store to get high. The woman also admitted to removing pills from boxes of cough medicine.

Drugs Charities Call Upon Party Leaders to Take Action Against Legal Highs

Via World Net Daily News

This article summarizes the recent London meeting of four drug charities: Legal highs awareness charity, Angelus, Northamptonshire-based charity, and Solve It. The charities called upon party leaders to act against the dangers of legal highs. 

Their joint report "Legal Highs: An Action Plan for Change”, published June 26^th, sets out how Departments should be coordinating efforts on education, prevention, and information sharing. 

The full report can be read here.

Texas Woman in Prison After Getting High in Front of Her Child

Via NewsWest

A woman in Odessa, Texas was spotted in a car by police in a parking lot. The police smelled chemicals coming from the car and confronted the woman, who responded in a slow manner. Upon investigation, police discovered she had been huffing toluene, a clear, liquid chemical, inside the car. The woman's two-year-old son was in the backseat. The woman was arrested and taken to prison.

Unidentified Person in Colorado Suspected of Huffing

Via Steamboat Today

Police in Colorado received a report that a person was huffing from an aerosol can on the street. The person ran away after awakening and could not be identified or located by local police.

New Inhalant Study in India: Results Released

Via the Hindustan Times in India:

The results of a recent study by the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (“Profile of inhalant users seeking treatment at a de-addiction centre in north India”) were released.  The study was carried out by the institute’s psychiatry department and published in the May issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Research.  It was based on the records of 92 treatment seekers for inhalant addiction at the institute’s Drug De-addiction and Treatment Centre over 10 years (2002-2011).and found that the principal sources of inhalant abuse were typewriter correction fluids and the majority of subjects initiated it out of curiosity.

• The most common inhalant used was typewriter correction fluid (73.6%), followed by typewriter diluent fluid (19.5%) and glue (6.9%). 
•  The mean age of onset of inhalant use was 16.3 years.
  

Pennsylvania Man Passes Out After Huffing Keyboard Cleaner

Via Lehigh Valley Live in Pennsylvania:

A 41 year old man was arrested after police noticed him huffing computer duster in the back of a taxi cab.  He lost consciousness, was arrested and faces charges of possession and inhaling the fumes of a toxic chemical for the purposes of causing a condition of intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia. 

Arkansas Woman Found Dead in Hotel Room- Inhalant Abuse Suspected

Via KXNW in Arkansas:

The body of a 27 year old woman was found in a Fayetteville hotel room on July 13th and inhalant abuse is suspected.

The hotel cleaning crew was unable to get the resident to come to the door so they called police to perform a welfare check.  Officers entered the suite and found the woman dead in the bathtub. Multiple cans of computer duster were found in the room. The body was sent for identification and an autopsy. 

Inhalant Abuse Resurfacing in Wisconsin

Via WSAW 7 in Wisconsin:

Melissa Dotter of the Alcohol and Other Drug Partnership notes that inhalant abuse is resurfacing in Marathon County, WI.  In the past month, the county has seen at least four inhalant abuse related incidents and arrests have been made.

Inhalant Abuse on the Rise in India

Via the Times of India: 

The articles notes that the Coimbatore government hospital sees at least five to 10 new cases of inhalant addiction every month and that the majority of the abusers are teens.

Guilty ruling upheld in huffing crash

Via The Chicago Tribune

A 19-year-old woman from Illinois who was found guilty of aggravated DUI for a crash that killed a 5-year-old girl in 2012 will not have the ruling reversed. The woman was inhaling keyboard duster at the wheel until she achieved the result of unconsciousness or semi-consciousness. Because she understood her actions based on previous experience, the judge will not reverse the ruling. The woman could receive up to 14 years in prison when she is sentences for aggravated DUI and reckless homicide.

New York teenager injured after huffing and driving

Via Press Republican in New York

On July 12, a teenager huffing behind the wheel was injured after he passed out and maneuvered his vehicle into a tree. A woman called the police to report two young men that she believed were abusing drugs in a 2004 Jeep Cherokee parked in Plattsburgh. As police were on their way to the scene, the car had driven away and headed to the South turnpike. A witness followed the vehicle and observed the car driving into the East shoulder of the turnpike and hit several mailboxes. The car swerved across lanes before hitting a tree on the East side. The driver, a 17-year-old male, was behind the wheel and had blacked out. He was taken to the hospital for chest injuries that he sustained in the crash. 

The second male passenger, age 16, told officers he had grabbed the steering wheel to attempt to control the vehicle. In the car, police found a compressed-gas duster can as well as a small amount of Marijuana. After being released by the hospital, the driver was arrested by police and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and illegal sale and use of toxic vapors, a misdemeanor under NY State Public Health Law. The 17-year-old driver was also ticketed for third-degree aggravated unlawful unlicensed operation, failure to keep right, failure to maintain lane, moving from lane unsafely, reckless driving, and failure to obey a traffic control device. The teen is scheduled to appear in Court at 5pm on the 17^th of July.

Tennessee Man Arrested for Huffing

Via Fox17.com

A 30 year-old Tennessee man was arrested for huffing.  The man was slumped over a fence when police arrived on the scene.  He inhaled from a can of duster in front of the officers before they took the can away. The man has been arrested for inhaling fumes three times since May. 

Nebraska Huffing Driver Can't Be Charged with DUI

Via WOWT.com

A Nebraska woman's life changed forever when a driver smashed head on into her car.  After four surgeries the woman's broken bones are starting to heal, but she is still a patient in a rehabilitation hospital as goes through physical therapy.

The driver of the car that hit her vehicle was under the influence after huffing from computer duster spray. Nebraska state law doesn't allow for the city prosecutor to charge the driver with a DUI.  In referring to huffing while driving and Nebraska law, the prosecutor states, "It has the same affect on the body and ability to drive as someone driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. But it’s not a drug, it's a chemical compound. Not all chemical compounds are drugs so I can't charge him for under the influence of a drug."

The woman in the accident is working to change state law so that huffing and driving offenses and accidents can be categorized as a DUI.  The driver in her accident will be sentenced in September for Willful Reckless Driving and being under the influence of an inhalant.   Combined the maximum sentence would be about five months in jail.  If huffing had been covered by the DUI law the driver could have faced felony charges for causing severe injury.

Wisconsin Woman Arrested for Huffing

Via The Tomah Journal

On July 5, a 28-year-old woman in Tomah, Wisconsin was arrested for huffing compressed gas. Police received reports that the woman was sniffing the compressed gas and arguing with another person at a local residence. When police responded, they found the woman locked in a bathroom and arguing with a man. Police attempted to coax the woman out of the bathroom unsuccessfully. When they heard the woman struggle for air, they kicked down the door. The woman was sitting of the floor and ignored orders to keep her hands in view. She was arrested on the scene and taken to the hospital to be physically cleared. After, the woman was booked for charges of abusing a hazardous substance, disorderly conduct, resisting an officer, and three counts of bail jumping.

New Jersey woman arrested three times in one day for huffing

Via LehighValleyLive in PA: 

A 29-year-old Long Valley woman was repeatedly arrested on Saturday, June 28^th for inhaling computer cleaner at several stores in a Walmart shopping center. Police found the woman in the bathroom of a department store with a can of computer duster in her hand. Instead of releasing the can as instructed, the woman inhaled from it. She was arrested and charged with inhaling a controlled dangerous substance.

Later that day, police were called back to the shopping center for the same woman who was passed out in the grass and holding another can of computer duster. After being advised to put down the can, she inhaled from it and passed out from the fumes. The woman was transported to a nearby hospital and charged with inhaling a controlled dangerous substance and for shoplifting two cans of computer duster from the Walmart.

After her discharge from the hospital, the same woman was found in the bathroom of another store inhaling computer duster. After being told by police to put down the can and open the door, the woman inhaled the substance. The police kicked the door in to gain access and found the woman unresponsive. The police began rescue breathing and called the emergency squad. The woman began to breathe and was transported to the hospital again. Police have contacted Crisis Intervention to offer the woman counseling and assistance.