The Chillicothe Police Department is reporting that officers are noticing an increased use by individuals huffing an air duster as a way to get high.
Just after 6 o’clock on Tuesday morning, police responded to a traffic accident at Business 36 and Mitchell Avenue where they found a woman passed out at the wheel. She was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated and officers said she was trying to get high by huffing compressed air.
Chillicothe Police Sergeant Jeremiah Grider says potential side effects io inhaling contents of an air duster can vary, and range from feelings of slight intoxication to a sense of intense euphoria. The air duster effects, depending on exactly what’s contained in the substance being inhaled, and also how much is being inhaled.
Since the air duster effects are short-lived, users will often do it over and over again in a short period of time. Short-term air duster high effects can include nausea, headache, fatigue, stomach pains, violence, irrational behavior, slurred speech, tingling in the extremities, hallucinations and a delay in reflexes. Long-term air duster effects are possible as well including weight loss, depression, muscle spasms and changes in mood.
Permanent damage to the lungs, heart, liver, and the brain can also occur when someone is inhaling an air duster regularly.
Another possible outcome of inhaling an air duster is suffocation. When someone inhales air duster, it causes a depression of oxygen levels as the fumes go into the lungs and then the central nervous system which can make it impossible for the person to breath, therefore they suffocate.
Also possible when inhaling air duster, according to Chillicothe Police, is something called sudden sniffing death. When someone sniffs an air duster, it can cause changes in their heartbeat that leads to sudden cardiac arrest.
