I’m glad she’s OK. I’ve never heard of this and I used to do auto A/C when I was a mechanic.
Apparently it is incredibly bad for you:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_causes_freon_poisoning_How_would_you_know_if_you%27re_at_risk
http://healthguide.howstuffworks.com/refrigerant-poisoning-dictionary.htm
From the second site you listed:
“The most common poisoning occurs when people intentionally sniff a type of refrigerant called freon. This is extremely dangerous and can lead to long-term brain damage and sudden death.”
Sounds like something you’d see in Reefer Madness. All the sites I hit say there are no long term effects with the exception of this: “However, if you have known heart problems, you need to be very careful with Freon because it can cause irregular heartbeat, i.e. cardiac arrhythmia.”