AUTHORITIES WARN OF SPRAY PAINT `HIGH'

A girl who apparently drowned after sniffing spray paint fumes in the Jackson City Park was warned against using inhalants in a junior high health class, police said Tuesday.

Police learned from friends of Bobbi Jones, 13, that she and other teens discovered in school that inhalants can produce a high and decided to try them.

"We found out that they heard about it in a health class," said Jackson Police Lt. Dick Knaup. "The health class was trying to educate them on what not to do, but somebody with a little idle time decided to try it anyway."

Sniffing paint fumes and other inhalants can produce a quick, intense high similar to crack cocaine, but experts warn their use destroys brain cells and can lead to addiction to other drugs.

They also say most users of inhalants are teens and pre-teens.

"It's very common, and it's very accessible to kids," said Marti Sturm, program director at the St. Francis Center for Recovery. "It gives them a real quick high.

"What they don't understand is how immediately it destroys brain cells, and the more they do it, the more brain cells they destroy."

The high comes from spraying the substance in a small space, or into plastic bags, then holding the bags over the mouth and inhaling. The inhalant limits the oxygen flow to the brain, producing a temporary euphoria.

Police link a specific inhalant, spray paint fumes, to Jones' death. Her body was found in a creek Monday at the Jackson City Park, and police say she apparently drowned.

Police said she was at the creek Sunday afternoon with a friend getting high by sniffing paint fumes out of a plastic bag. Two plastic bags and a can of gold spray paint were found near the creek.

Knaup called the paint fumes "the chief contributing factor" in Jones' death. "It's a tragic situation," he said.

Jones' death was ruled as an accidental asphyxiation. Her body was found submerged in less than three feet of water at about 6:30 a.m. about 10 hours after her mother reported her missing Sunday night.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Carpenter said Tuesday authorities likely will never be able to determine if Jones suffered a heart problem, seizure or blacked out from the fumes and then fell into the water and drowned, or if she was dead before entering the creek.

"To tell you the truth, we'll probably never find out," Carpenter said. Results from toxicology tests on Jones' blood, urine and organ tissue will be final in about 10 days, he said. But the tests are unlikely to determine the exact time of her death.

Sturm said kids who experiment with inhalants will use just about anything to get high.

"They'll sniff paint, gasoline even Pam," she said. Pam is a non-stick aerosol spray used in cooking.

"They'll even sniff hair spray. It's frightening. They'll try anything to see what kind of effect it gives."

The high can last for several minutes, she said.

"The high is similar to the high of crack cocaine. Chemically it's different, but it feels the same," she said. "It's similar to back in the `60s, when kids were dropping acid."

Knaup said the purchase of inhalants for the sole purpose of getting high is illegal under state law. But that doesn't mean teens aren't able to buy them.

"Is every store clerk going to be able to question every person who buys a can of paint?" he said.

Police said the friend who was using the inhalants with Jones Sunday afternoon denied being there, then refused to cooperate with police. He said it isn't yet known what the girl witnessed or if she knew Jones had drowned.

Police said three people reported seeing the girl with Jones' Sunday afternoon.

Knaup said the park isn't the place kids "hang out" to get high. But he said police learned through Jones' friends that she had been using inhalants regularly for several months. Knaup said police are aware kids are getting high from inhalants, but he doesn't believe the use is widespread here.

"I wouldn't say it's a major problem, but there is a percentage of kids who are experimenting with it in the Cape and Jackson area," he said.

Sturm said she "cannot stress emphatically enough" the dangers of using inhalants.

"It's an irreversible mess," she said. "Once you destroy brain cells, they never come back." Also, the high from inhalants can be psychologically addictive, she said.

"I think kids do it just looking for their own kind of high and their own way out," she said. "Unfortunately, it's readily available."

Knaup said Jones' death shocked the citizens of Jackson. He said police received numerous calls after media reports said her body had been found.

"There was some hysteria," he said, especially before the cause of death was known.

"People were theorizing, saying it was a serial killer, a cult thing, but none of that is true," he said. "It's been hard on the family and hard on the town."

Knaup said few kids who visit the park are using inhalants.

"A lot of kids are enjoying the park and have a good, legitimate, recreational time," he said. "A creek of that nature is naturally a place kids will gather."

The coroner said the girl's death has made people realize the danger of inhalants.

"It's a sad situation all the way around," he said. "I just hope the kids who are doing it will stop."