WEATHERFour-day huffing binge lands man in hospital
Jan 13
2012
A search Thursday for the source of an odd odor in a Fulton Street duplex led police to a living room where a man sat huffing a can of air duster.
Upon closer inspection, officers discovered Kenneth Jefferson, 24, was surrounded by dozens of spent canisters of air duster.
His mouth was swollen and covered with large, festering blisters from the freezing, compressed air. He also had a bucket of vomit within reach, the report said.
Jefferson told police he received a bulk shipment of compressed air canisters four days ago after ordering them online at Amazon.com.
Since then, he’d been huffing can after can, he said.
“Kenneth said he ordered the duster so he can get high,” the report said. “He advised he needs the duster to slow down his brain.”
Jefferson’s mother looked on as paramedics loaded him into an ambulance bound for Firelands Regional Medical Center.
“(She) advised Kenneth inhales duster all the time, that it makes him feel better,” the report said. “She stated she was present during the past four days while Kenneth was inhaling the air duster.”
Police charged Jefferson with abusing harmful intoxicants.
“I’ve never heard or seen anything like that,” Sandusky police Lt. John Orzech said.
But Bayshore substance abuse counselor Donita McGuire has.
McGuire said many of her younger patients huff compressed air because it’s easy to acquire and it doesn’t show up on drug screenings.
Compressed air is commonly “huffed” by spraying the canister into a paper bag, placing the mouth over the opening and breathing it in, McGuire said.
“A lot of times you’ll see burn marks around the mouth and nose,” she said. “What it’s doing is eating at the skin.”
Police took photos of Jefferson at the hospital and the Register obtained one of the photos from officers.
It shows Jefferson’s lips drastically swollen and covered in huge yellow blisters.
Compressed air goes by many names, including Duster, Canned Air and, in this case, Dust Off.
As inferred by its name, the product is intended to be used for dusting off keyboards and camera lenses.
“They can go into almost any grocery store and buy it,” McGuire said. “There aren’t legal consequences like there are with street drugs.”
While a charge of abusing a harmful intoxicant is only a first-degree misdemeanor, the health dangers posed by huffing are serious indeed.
If person huffs compressed air for four days straight, they can easily die, McGuire said.
“Quite frankly, I’m surprised (Jefferson) didn’t have convulsions or seizures,” she said. “He could have died.”
But while Jefferson escaped death, it’s likely he did irreversible damage to his brain.
“It’s called wet brain,” McGuire said. “People ... revert back to the mental state they were in when they first started abusing the substance.”
There’s no logical way to explain how Jefferson could keep huffing the canisters even after his face and hands bulged with blisters, McGuire said.
“That’s the insanity of addiction,” she said. “It takes them to a different sense of being and, to stay there, they always need more.”
Jefferson was later taken from Firelands hospital to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, where he was listed in fair condition Thursday night.
A 12-pack of 12-ounce Dust Off canisters were priced at $46.63 on Amazon.com Thursday.
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09:53 PM
Just Sayin IMHO says
Well, I never knew how to huff until I read this article. That part could have been left out. I can't help but wonder how many kids have read that and are going to try it. THAT is what worries me about some Register stories. Some things should be left out, I think.
And something brought this man to this point. He was unable to get the help needed for whatever reason. Maybe this is a turning point. Maybe not. Either way, we should take a lesson in what can happen when you don't know what your kids are doing, no matter what age they are. Granted, you can't force anyone to get help. They have to do it themselves. But I am happy to say that I have open communications with my 16 year old daughter. I pray this is a fear I will never have to face with her.
No more finger pointing. We have GOT to do something about our lost youth here in Sandusky. No more "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Let's just come together to save them before its too late. I don't know how, but someone has to have some ideas.....
03:20 PM
wetsu says
You go, Taxpayer...
Much better to follow the lead of Boehner and Kennedy and hit the bottle.
01:51 PM
Taxpayer says
WHY do weak individuals BLAME the Register for reporting what is going on? Half of you liberal nit-wits do not even KNOW what "huffing" is about. So, what is the liberal, crybaby thing to do? BLAME. Here is a tip for all you losers. There are TV programs from EVERY media genre who continually WARN the viewer (that is YOU for those with half a brain), "Do NOT Try This at Home! Intended for Mature Audiences, Parental Advisory-Explicit Content, Contains Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Program Contains Strong Language, Contains Scenes Viewers May Find Disturbing, Viewer Discretion Advised!" And do NOT forget all the disclaimers by ALL the liberal media before and after each program, "Does NOT reflect the views, nature or policy of....." Guess what? Everyone STILL watches. Do YOU control what your kids view? I love the liberal premise of, "This boy needs help, BAD JOB REGISTER!" How about BAD JOB MOM? How about, "NOT too smart, brain surgeon. I wouldn't do that if I were you." How about YOU paying for some "help" for this boy? How about YOU forcing him to accept help he does NOT want? The Register can NOT pasteurize, homogenize, pad, cover and purify everything they print to make liberal crybabies have a safe, wonderful, warm, fuzzy, huggy life. GET OVER IT! Try to LEARN something! Here is a tip. Very FEW kids read the Register unless it is to read their names in the sports section. Kids are SUPPOSED to learn from their parents, parent, baby-daddy, baby-momma or grand momma. Parents are NOT supposed to just watch! Liberals live a miserable life waiting to BLAME everyone and everything for their OWN despairing, melancholy, FAILURE of a life. It could NEVER be YOU! Ha! Ha!
02:26 PM
southerngurl says
This is very sad and this young boy needs some help..BUT..why would the Sandusky Register give the steps on how to use this stuff??? BAD JOB REGISTER!!
02:17 PM
Taxpayer says
So this 24-year-old adult DECIDES to go on-line and do a specific search for "air duster" products in canisters on the world wide web? Then, with rational choice, he DECIDES to contact the vendor at Amazon and enters into a binding business contract. He then DECIDES with rational thinking to PAY for them using a credit card and DECIDES on the shipping. He then waits for his purchase to arrive to his MOTHER'S residence. Once the package arrives, so begins the self-destructive inhaling binge of his prize. He is on this "high" and DECIDES to stay on it for DAYS while his own mother watches. Is society in trouble?? Is this a snapshot on the future of our great nation? Being a liberal, mind numb loser and entitlement sheep is more of a cancer and epidemical prevalence of our society than I could have ever imagined. God help us all.
08:30 AM
richrs says
Maybe what he needs is another flat of canned air and go at it. In the end, no big loss.
12:49 AM
Cowlitz88 says
If you have children, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE educate them about the dangers of inhalant abuse and make it very clear that IT CAN KILL YOU. I can not stress this enough. Anybody can buy a lot of the items used for a cheap high, but awareness of the dangers will go a long way toward discouraging this activity. A member of my family was lost to this a while back, and it saddens me when I read articles such as this.
06:02 PM
OMG.LOL.WT_ says
Why interfere with natural selection?
04:09 PM
RUKidding says
The part that I can't get around is the mother's part in all this. Wouldn't him needing to sit with a bucket of vomit close by indicate the need to perhaps call somebody?
03:11 PM
LabMan says
Tru try this
http://www.sanduskymunicipalcourt.org/search.shtml
02:16 PM
xephod says
He does indeed suffer from severe Neurological disorders, which I believe he has been given meds for. But having known them for a long time, the mother just standing by with this happening is no surprise. How can you help an addict if you are one yourself? We've given up trying to help her because she will never lift a finger to help herself, she wants everything done for her, and in her mind she is unable to do anything about anything.
02:02 PM
Tru Grit says
Pete says- Where did you find his record like that is there a website i can go to or just a county website, any infor would be great.
01:57 PM
wetsu says
Unabasho-
Exactly.
12:39 PM
jon491 says
http://connect2utah.com/news-story?nxd_id=90716 Here is a link ,he was 13 .
12:37 PM
LabMan says
That's Mick Jagger @ 12 years old
12:24 PM
ReallyGood says
He looks like he is 12! That is horrible. I will never understand the craving or curiousity behind getting high. There is just so much risk involved even in just trying it one time. Shame on this mom.
12:21 PM
jon491 says
No that is not the pic and I ALSO don't know what that green thing is. This is what that crap does to your face ,this pic is from the next day after he went to hosp.
12:18 PM
ReallyGood says
Thats not really the pic is it?
If it's not, it's still weirding me out
12:08 PM
goofus says
Czech, will gummie bears work if I soak them in Jager?
11:46 AM
czechurself says
Huffing has been around a long time. I used to work with some girls at Fridays in the early 90's that would pop off into the coolers with whipped cream cans and huff away. If you have children you need to be aware of this trend also known as "bagging". Freon has become popular for inebriation as well("chasing the rat"). The choke game or the fainting game is another trend where kids suspend themselves or hang themselves from a doorknob or closet dowel rod with a belt or strap to cut the oxygen off from the brain and get a "high". Unfortunately if they start to lose consciousness and pass out before being able to loosen the strap they inadvertently kill themselves. There are also a vodka gummy bear (gummies that have been saturated with vodka) that goes undetected because what is suspicious about kids munching on gummy bears? The candy absorbs the liquor easily and the sugar masks the taste and the smell.
Trust me, the kids already know, but If you dont know what to look for as a parent, you have no way of preventing this abuse if your kids decide to give it a try. These practices are more popular among white teens and those in their early twenties.
Obviously this man's mother was aware since he was posted up in the living room surrounded by empty cans, blistered and burned. Her reaction makes me wonder also...
11:34 AM
SanduskyExpat says
This woman is easily in the running for Worst Mother of the Year. Her inaction is appalling.
Where I live, cans of compressed air are regulated and a person must provide ID in order to buy it, similar to buying the ephedrine (Sudafed) that is now behind pharmacy counters. It's sad that it has come to that.
11:54 AM
jon491 says
11:23 AM
The New World Czar says
11:11 AM
Truth or Dare says
"The power of suggestion", or "public awareness"? Ask your children what they learned/learn about within the D.A.R.E. program taught within our schools. Did ya all know that "wet brain" can be inherited? Yep, sure can. If this young man had wet brain, I hope they treated him with vit. B1 (thiamine), prior to any kind of sugars? Anyone ask if Mom was "huffing" at any point in time w/Jr, or before his birth.? Otherwise, why wouldn't she of done something much sooner? This stuff sprays out so cold it literally burns the skin. The "high" is so intense and numbing, you feel nothing. Which explains the ability to tolerate the burns and blistering! I would have to wonder if he could of possibley been born with and is dealing w/a Neurological Disorder, such as being Bi-polar and suffers w/Depression or Manic Depression, Schizophrenia, or maybe an extreme case of ADHD?
Yep, that stuff will chemically burn your skin inside and out, and burn up those braincells! Be sure to keep this crap outta reach of small children,, all children, and if it's coming to your home in shipments, or bought in large quanities.........well, that's your first clue it's being used for something more than just the dust within your keyboards, cameras and other electronic devices.
10:38 AM
FruGalSpender says
restless, don't blame the newspaper for trying to make parents aware of huffing. the internet is full of information about substance abuse. some of that information is responsible for many deaths. the more people know about dangerous substance abuse, the better.
10:26 AM
Pete says
A real winner!
Search results for "jefferson, kenneth"
15 Matches Displayed
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 09/15/2008
Arr. Agency: SPK
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: INDUCING PANIC
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 09/15/2008
Arr. Agency: SPK
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: RESISTING ARR
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 08/16/2010
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: DISORDERLY COND
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 08/16/2010
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: RESISTING ARR
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 10/12/2010
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: DISORDERLY COND
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 12/06/2010
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: DISORDERLY COND
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 12/14/2010
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: DUS
Case Type: Traffic
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
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Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: F TO CONTROL
Case Type: Traffic
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 10/12/2011
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: ASSAULT OFFICER
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 10/12/2011
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: ASSAULT OFFICER
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 10/12/2011
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Docket Entry: Click
Charge: C C W
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 10/12/2011
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: RESISTING ARR
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 10/12/2011
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: DISORDERLY COND
Case Type: Criminal
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Docket Entry: Click
Charge: DOM VIOLENCE
Case Type: Criminal
D.B.A./A.K.A.:
Filed: 11/10/2011
Arr. Agency: SSPD
Docket Entry: Click
Charge: DISORDERLY COND
Case Type: Criminal
10:18 AM
Bluto says
This isn't a new thing . It's been around for a long time .
10:18 AM
jon491 says
Remember way back when , model glue would get you high , complete with headaches ,until they took the bad stuff out that got people up on it?
10:17 AM
cksbde says
So the Register isn't actually going to post the photo of the man in the hospital????? What a shock.
10:08 AM
goofus says
I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down "Big Bad Wolf"
10:07 AM
Unabasho says
What and where to buy,
how to use and why ~ thank you
for the instructions
09:56 AM
Restless1 says
A good detailed article SR. Now those youngsters who never knew of it will be giving it a try. Seems so easy to do that I'll pass out a few cans at my next party. Your step by step directions are just what I would expect from my local newspaper. Your editors must be breathing out of a paper bag!
09:48 AM
ReallyGood says
I can 't even grasp the words of the emotions I get from reading this. Disbelief is one. The mother was there while her son was huffing, vomiting, and had blisters and swollen lips. I mean, really? These 2 both need help apparently. Why didn't she call the police and tell them her son was abusing harmful intoxicants? To just sit there and allow it and watch the reaction it had on him, she is seriously sick in the head. As for him...I hope one day he doesn't kill himself. But unfortunately, it will probably happen unless he gets the help he needs. Clearly it won't be from his mother's urging.
09:44 AM
Bluto says
Why ? Why ? Why ?
09:35 AM
FruGalSpender says
“He advised he needs the duster to slow down his brain.” he already had a slow brain.