Did you know you can get a DWI for driving while/after huffing a hazardous substance?
Consuming hazardous materials and getting behind the wheel can land you with a DWI. That includes inhaling substances like Dust-Off. Yes, the stuff you use to clean off your computer keyboard.
In Minnesota, it is a crime for any person to drive, operate, or be in physical control of a motor vehicle when “the person is knowingly under the influence of a hazardous substance that affects the nervous system, brain, or muscles of the person so as to substantially impair the person’s ability to drive or operate the motor vehicle.” Minn. Stat. § 169A.20, subd. 1(3).
In a recent Minnesota case State v. Carson, the Court of Appeals affirmed the decision made by the district court finding the defendant guilty of third-degree DWI. An officer found the defendant was passed out in her running vehicle with empty cans of Dust-Off around her which she had been huffing. Defendant’s chemical test was positive for DFE and lorazepam. The District Court found that the characteristics of DFE which is commonly found in cans such as Dust-Off made it a hazardous substance. Inhaling that substance and getting behind the wheel is in violation of the above mentioned statute. The Court of Appeals affirmed Dust-Off is a hazardous substance under DWI law. State v. Carson, No. A15-1678 (Minn. Ct. App. Sept. 6, 2016).
So no, you can’t have your Dust-Off and huff it too.