WINONA, Minn. — A Winona man was caught huffing Blow-Off fumes from spray cans in the men’s bathroom of two stores a couple hours apart. In the first incident, at the Kwik Trip on Homer Road, a clerk called police that a man had been in the restroom an inordinate time. Officers found Keith Roy Schroeder, 35, locked inside with six cans of Blow-Off. This was about 2:50 p.m. Officers ticketed Schroeder, whom they said agreed to leave to meet up with his mother at the Hy-Vee grocery two miles away on the West End. About 5:10 p.m. police were called about someone in a men’s room stall at Hy-Vee for a suspiciously long time. There was Schroeder again, restocked with Blow-Off and, officers said, not wanting to stop huffing until he finished the last can. The natural question in this second incident: “Where’s your mom?” There was no answer. This time Schroeder went to jail.
Inhalants profile
Blow-Off is a brand name for a product in aerosol sprays to clear dust off keyboards and just about anywhere that dust collects. Such products have a following for a dubious practice called “huffing” –inhaling the fumes for a high. When inhaled, halogenated hydrocarbons quickly go to the lungs and enter the bloodstream and almost just as quickly reach the central nervous system. The effect is rapid, akin to alcohol intoxication. An initial excitement is followed by drowsiness, light-headedness, decreased inhibitions, and agitation. Some people inhale for hours to maintain a high. Such successive inhalations can lead to loss of consciousness and even death. Other long0term effects: Irreversible heart inflammation, congestive heart failure, emphysema, liver and kidney damage, bone marrow suppression, and progressive neurological injury resulting in hearing loss, limb spasms, and loss of coordination. anoxic brain damage.
Schroeder. Booking charge: Using a toxic substance for intoxication.
Among generic names: “Canned air” and “compressed gas duster” Retails about $6 a can.