Because I am addicted to Inhalents...
Overview
Invisible, volatile substances found in
common household products that produce chemical vapors that are inhaled to induce psychoactive or mind altering effects.
Street Names
Gluey, Huff, Rush, Whippets
Looks Like
Common household products such as glue,
lighter fluid, cleaning fluids, and paint all produce chemical vapors that can be inhaled.
Methods of Abuse
Although other abused substances can be
inhaled, the term “inhalants” is used to describe a variety of substances whose main common characteristic is
that they are rarely, if ever, taken by any route other than inhalation. Inhalants are breathed in through the nose or the
mouth in a variety of ways, such as “sniffing” or “snorting,” “bagging,” which is sniffing
or inhaling fumes from substances sprayed or deposited inside a plastic or paper bag, “huffing,” from an inhalant-soaked
rag stuffed in the mouth, or inhaling from balloons filled with nitrous oxide.
Inhalants are often among the first drugs
that young children use. About 1 in 5 kids report having used inhalants by the eigth grade. Inhalants are also one of the
few substances abused more by younger children than by older ones.
Affect of Inhalents on
the Mind
Inhalant abuse can cause damage to the
parts of the brain that control thinking, moving, seeing and hearing. Cognitive abnormalities can range from mild impairment
to severe dementia.
Affect of Inhalents on
the Body
Inhaled chemicals are rapidly absorbed
through the lungs into the bloodstream and quickly distributed to the brain and other organs. Nearly all inhalants produce
effects similar to anesthetics, which slow down the body's function. Depending on the degree of abuse, the user can experience
slight stimulation, feeling of less inhibition or loss of consciousness. Within minutes of inhalation, the user experiences
intoxication along with other effects similar to those produced by alcohol. These effects may include slurred speech, an inability
to coordinate movements, euphoria, and dizziness. After heavy use of inhalants, abusers may feel drowsy for several hours
and experience a lingering headache.
Additional symptoms exhibited by long-term
inhalant abusers include weight loss, muscle weakness, disorientation, inattentiveness, lack of coordination, irritability,
and depression, damage to the nervous system and other organs. Some of the damaging effects to the body may be at least partially
reversible when inhalant abuse is stopped; however, many of the effects from prolonged abuse are irreversible.
Prolonged sniffing of the highly concentrated
chemicals in solvents or aerosol sprays can induce irregular and rapid heart rhythms and lead to heart failure and death within
minutes. There is a common link between inhalant use and problems in school -- failing grades, chronic absences, and general
apathy. Other signs include the following: paint or stains on body or clothing spots or sores around the mouth red or runny
eyes or nose chemical breath odor drunk, dazed or dizzy appearance nausea, loss of appetite anxiety, excitability, irritability
consciousness.
Within minutes of inhalation, the user
experiences intoxication along with other effects similar to those produced by alcohol. These effects may include slurred
speech, an inability to coordinate movements, euphoria, and dizziness. After heavy use of inhalants, abusers may feel drowsy
for several hours and experience a lingering headache. Additional symptoms exhibited by long-term inhalant abusers include
weight loss, muscle weakness, disorientation, inattentiveness, lack of coordination, irritability, and depression, damage
to the nervous system and other organs.
Some of the damaging effects to the body
may be at least partially reversible when inhalant abuse is stopped; however, many of the effects from prolonged abuse are
irreversible. Prolonged sniffing of the highly concentrated chemicals in solvents or aerosol sprays can induce irregular and
rapid heart rhythms and lead to heart failure and death within minutes. There is a common link between inhalant use and problems
in school -- failing grades, chronic absences, and general apathy. Other signs include the following: paint or stains on body
or clothing spots or sores around the mouth red or runny eyes or nose chemical breath odor drunk, dazed or dizzy appearance
nausea, loss of appetite anxiety, excitability, irritability.
Drugs Causing Similar Effects
Most inhalants produce a rapid high that
is similar to the effects of alcohol intoxication.
Overdose Effects
Because intoxication lasts only a few
minutes, abusers try to prolong the high by continuing to inhale repeatedly over the course of several hours, which is a very
dangerous practice. With successive inhalations, abusers may suffer loss of consciousness and/or death. “Sudden sniffing
death” can result from a single session of inhalant use by an otherwise healthy young person. Sudden sniffing death
is particularly associated with the abuse of butane, propane, and chemicals in aerosols. Inhalant abuse can also cause death
by asphyxiation from repeated inhalations, which lead to high concentrations of inhaled fumes displacing the available oxygen
in the lungs; suffocation by blocking air from entering the lungs when inhaling fumes from a plastic bag placed over the head;
and by choking from swallowing vomit after inhaling substances.
Legal Status in the United
States
The common household products that are
misused as inhalants are legally available for their intended and legitimate uses. Many state legislatures have attempted
to deter youth who buy legal products to get high by placing restriction on the sale of these products to minors.
Common Places of Origin
There are more than 1,000 products that
are very dangerous when inhaled – things like typewriter correction fluid, air conditioning refrigerant, felt tip markers,
spray paint, air freshener, butane and even cooking spray.
You can see products abused as inhalants
by going to the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition's website at
.
