Four-day huffing binge lands man in hospital

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.