A crash in Ohio that injured an 18-year-old driver and his five passengers involved the contents of an aerosol can. Lt. Michael Vinson, commander of the State Highway Patrol’s Mansfield post, said that a passenger in the cash said that the driver had been inhaling the contents of air-duster before the crash.
All six were hospitalized and treated for minor to serious injuries.
Vinson said that the driver, whose identity is not being revealed, appeared to be "severely impaired" and could face felony charges.
"In the old days, you’d typically get to a crash and you’d smell the alcohol," Vinson said.
Inhalants affect a person by causing slurred speech, dizziness and red, glassy eyes, but they can be harder to detect because many inhalants do not have an odor. Inhalants also produce hallucinogenic effects, giving a heightened sense of awareness or pleasure. According to a 2005 study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, one in five teenagers has used inhalants. Inhalants can be common household products like spray paint, glue, shoe polish, hair spray, aerosol computer cleaners, cooking spray and correction fluid.
More 12-year-olds have used inhalants than marijuana, cocaine or hallucinogens combined, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Inhalants stay in the body about 30 minutes and are tough to detect because they do not show up on drug-screening tests.
"It’s all at home," said Amanda Conn Starner, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services. "Parents or loved ones aren’t going to notice that it’s gone unless they actually see missing products. That’s the danger."
