The mother of 12-year-old Rayshell Griffin, who died
Wednesday after it is believed she intentionally inhaled fumes from an
aerosol can while at a Northview Heights after-school program, said she
saw no warning signs of inhalant abuse by her daughter.
Huffing easy high for young, but tough to stop
“This is all new to me. There was nothing at all,”
Cherie Griffin of Northview Heights said as she finalized the funeral
service for a daughter she called “my pretty, pretty princess.”
Moreover, Cherie Griffin said she had nothing but
praise for workers at the Youth Empowerment community center at 415
Mount Pleasant Road, where Rayshell collapsed Wednesday at 4 p.m. while
attending a Thanksgiving party. In her hand was a can of Glade air
freshener. She died two hours later in Allegheny General Hospital. “It's not the center's fault,” Cherie Griffin said.
“When God takes you, it doesn't matter who is around. However the
circumstances are when it happens, it just happens. I just want to thank
everyone who tried to save her.”
Rayshell, a seventh-grader at Schiller Classical
Academy on the North Side, “loved to dance, period,” her mother said,
noting her love for performing with the Northview Heights Steppers, a
drill team. Friends “just called her little Mary J. Blige,” she
added, referring to the popular hip-hop star.
Pittsburgh police are investigating the case as a
suspicious death. In a news release yesterday, Cmdr. Maurita Bryant said
there were about 60 to 70 children in attendance and Rayshell was
observed with her head on a table, covered with her coat as if sleeping.
At one point, an adult chaperone asked Rayshell if she were OK, to which
the child responded “yes” and then put her head back down.
About 20 minutes later she passed out and was foaming
at the mouth and her clothes were saturated with the smell of the air
freshener can that was found with her. Detectives learned that Rayshell obtained the air
freshener at a local store. Bryant said detectives will attempt to
determine if the victim was coaxed or influenced into what is known as
“huffing” — inhaling household products to get a cheap, easily
available, temporary high — and how long she may have been engaged in
that type of activity.
A 14-year-old friend who was at the party said
Thursday that Rayshell had tried to interest other children in huffing
in the past but none joined her.
While an official cause of Rayshell's death is pending
toxicology results, the strong suspicion that it was from huffing
provided a stark reminder that the abuse of inhalants, particularly by
the very young, has been occurring for a half-century. Huffing first came to the public's attention in the
1950s, when the news media reported young people seeking a cheap high
were sniffing glue, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Today, it's not just glue. Adhesives, aerosols, gases, solvents and
nitrites found in most homes can be abused. Still, the goal of abusers — called huffers, baggers,
sniffers, spray heads — is the same as it's always been. “It's a quick high, a cheap high, an easily accessible
high,” said Rita Mrvos education coordinator at the Pittsburgh Poison
Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. And, she said, for all of those reasons, huffing is
attractive to the very young.
Inhalant abusers experience a short-lived feeling of
euphoria because the brain is deprived of oxygen, but such deprivation
can also lead to cardiopulmonary arrest, Mrvos said. Chronic abuse can
lead to long-term problems such as diminishing memory and reasoning
abilities as well as coordination and time problems. Other risks include
damage to the liver, kidneys, heart, lungs and bone marrow. Abusers often have a drunk or dizzy appearance, smell
of chemical odors, exhibit red or runny eyes or nose, and experience
insomnia, anxiety, appetite loss and a loss of interest in school or
work, among other symptoms.
Nationally, the statistics are depressing, to say the
least:
In 1999, the most recent year for which figures are
available, 19.7 percent of eighth-graders, 17 percent of 10th-graders
and 15.4 percent of 12th-graders said they had abused inhalants at least
once in their lives, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
About 500,000 children from 12 to 17 years of age
experiment with inhalants each year, according to the U.S. Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
About 30 percent of all poisoning fatalities among 12
to 17-year-olds are due to inhalant abuse, according to the American
Association of Poison Control Centers.
The good news, if there is any, is that inhalant abuse
among the nation's eighth- 10th- and 12th-graders declined in 1999,
according to the latest data, continuing an apparent gradual decline
that began in 1966.
Despite that, inhalants are still being abused at
higher rates than they were a decade ago, according to the National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse.
Dr. Mike Turturro, vice chair of Mercy Hospital's
Department of Emergency Medicine, said doctors there see inhalant abuse
on occasion “in all age groups, but adolescents are the most common.”
“It's mostly legal, easily obtainable household
products. You open the cabinet under the sink and it's there,” he said. He was at a loss for an answer to what can be done,
noting that it's been impossible to get rid of illegal drugs let alone
stop the abuse of legal substances. “Education can certainly help, but
huffing has been around for generation after generation.”
More information about inhalants and warning signs of
abuse are available at a link on the Children's Hospital Web site —
www.chp.edu/chpstore/inhalants.pdf.
By Michael A. Fuoco
1 December 2003
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20031129huffinglocal2p2.asp
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