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WHEELING - The time Patrick Tribett has spent in jail has apparently done nothing to ease his need to get high by huffing spray paint.

Tribett was arrested less than a month ago in McMechen after police found him inhaling paint in an area near Industrial Park known as the Mud Pit. It wasn't the first such incident.

Tribett received national publicity in 2005 after being arrested by the Bellaire Police Department. He was intoxicated while purchasing gold spray paint in a village business and placed under arrest, but it was his mugshot that earned him a certain level of fame. The lower half of his face was covered in gold paint from inhaling the toxins.

Since then, he's been arrested at least four times for the same offense. Gold and silver spray paint covered Tribett's lower face and hands on March 24 of this year when McMechen police found Tribett walking along W.Va. 2. In June 2006, Wheeling police found him intoxicated, again with his face covered in paint, and that arrest was made just one week after he was arrested under the Interstate 470 bridge where he was found huffing paint. Last year, Wheeling police charged him with public intoxication after finding him staggering along Market Street near 15th Street in Wheeling.

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, inhalant abuse, commonly called "huffing," is the purposeful inhalation of chemical vapors to achieve an altered mental or physical state, which for most abusers is a euphoric effect. Abusers inhale vapors emitted from a wide range of substances. In fact, chemical vapors used as inhalants can be found in more than 1,000 common household products.

Belmont County Drug Court Coordinator Rebecca Schuetz said there is no real research on just how addictive huffing is, but she said, like all addiction, much of it depends on the individual. She said there also is little known about the withdrawal, tolerance and long-term damage caused by inhalants.

However, she said what is known about "huffing" is frightening.

"The most critical acute effect of inhalants is death," Schuetz said. "The substances inhaled are poisons."

Ohio County Prosecutor Scott Smith said Tribett's situation is difficult in terms of law. He said the criminal justice system is not designed to deal with people who have mental illness or addiction problems. He said the justice system is limited in the tools needed to force people into treatment, especially when they are committing "low-level" offenses.

Smith suggested that Tribett may not get the treatment he needs unless he commits a serious crime.

"That is an unfortunate situation many times," Smith said. "It all goes back to basic constitutional rights. You can't deprive someone of their liberty without the basis to do so. It's a very sad situation, and there is no process where a person has to be forced to get help. ... When someone commits a felony and receives jail time, there are more tools to order someone to a facility."

Ohio County Health Department Administrator Howard Gamble agreed with Smith in that it may take a serious crime for Tribett to receive the help he needs. He said, however, that there is a public health issue. He said Tribett is becoming a "public nuisance," and there are public-health nuisance laws. Gamble also said Tribett's arrests are costing the public money.

"The man definitely needs advanced treatment and counseling," Gamble said. "Locking him up is not working."

Tribett has been arrested multiple times in recent years by the McMechen Police Department. McMechen Police Chief David Robinson said the odds of Tribett resisting his arrest are "50-50." The chief said he does not know if he's ever seen Tribett when he was not under the influence of a substance he inhaled.

" I can't say that I have seen him sober," Robinson said. "I've talked to him on his way down, and you have a 50-50 shot of him being agreeable. You just don't know what personality you will see. He has resisted. He could be coming down and be anxious. It's like an alcoholic who is looking for a drink or someone who is looking for drugs. ... This is what he does."

Robinson said, once Tribett is arrested, a magistrate sets his bond or he is released on his own recognizance. He said, in cases that involved the McMechen Police Department, Tribett did show up for his scheduled hearings. Robinson said Tribett also has taken to the option of seeking "treatment."

"To my knowledge, he has never failed to appear for a hearing," Robinson said. "He has turned himself in for treatment, and we have taken him to (the emergency room) on two occasions ... He did seek treatment, and then it is up to him from there."