DARN, I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO FIND A NEW HOBBY.

Inhaling gasoline can cause brain damage, experts say

The agonizing death of a Hallandale Beach teenager from burns resulting from a group's attempt to get high by sniffing gasoline highlighted a dangerous practice that all too often goes unnoticed by parents.

Seventeen-year-old César García was sniffing gasoline out of a plastic gas can with his friends on Monday when one of them, 20-year-old Phillipe Sánchez, leaned over to ignite a pool of gasoline that had dribbled onto the floor, police said.

The ensuing blaze burned down the teen's mobile home and left him with second- and third-degree burns covering 80 percent of his body. He died the next day. Sánchez, who also sustained serious burns, is in jail on arson and second-degree murder charges.

One question that remained unanswered: Why would Sánchez ignite the highly flammable substance they were inhaling?

A person high on inhalants is usually out of touch with reality, uncoordinated, slow and out of control, experts say.

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