Inhalants - Overview
Overview
More than 1,000 household and industrial products—including felt-tip markers, correction fluid, nail polish remover, shoe polish, cooking spray, and certain glues—are abused for the highs they produce. These items are referred to as inhalants because they produce an intoxicatingCausing drunkenness, but not necessarily from alcohol; the loss of physical or mental control due to the use of any drug is termed 'intoxication.' effect when inhaled through the mouth or nose. Inhalants are generally inexpensive and easy to buy. When purchased for their intended uses, they are perfectly legal. When abused, they can be deadly.
Abused products contain chemicals that are volatile. Inhalant abusers deliberately breathe in these toxic fumes to experience a quick high. The vapors affect both the brain and the body of users who inhale them in concentrated amounts. Most products used as inhalants carry warning labels that direct consumers to use them in "well-ventilated areas." These messages are ignored by abusers, as are further warnings regarding the damage such chemicals can do to their bodies. A standard warning label reads: "Do not inhale because the fumes can be dangerous to your health."
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported in its "Get It Straight" publication on inhalants that "in just ten years
the number of youth who have used inhalants has nearly doubled." According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the number of new inhalant users rose from about 625,000 in 1994 to 1 million in 2002. (New inhalant users are defined by the NSDUH as Americans who tried inhalants for the first time. Inhalants are defined as "liquids, sprays, and gases that people sniff or inhale to get high or to make them feel good.")
Sniffing through History
The intoxicating effects of certain chemical vapors are believed to have been discovered by the ancient Greeks about 3,500 years ago. anestheticA substance used to deaden pain. gases were the first inhalants to become popular in more modern times. In the 1700s and the 1800s, chemists, doctors, and dentists in Europe and the United States experimented with three different anesthetic gases: nitrous oxide, ether, and chloroform. (A separate entry on nitrous oxide is available in this encyclopedia.)
Such compounds revolutionized surgical and dental procedures by allowing patients to "sleep" through the painful experiences. But the highs they produced soon led to their use and abuse as intoxicating drugs. In fact, in the 1800s, some people had "ether parties." Partygoers would gather together to inhale the substance and experience its effects. The ether mainly caused giddiness or silliness. Some of these parties were held by medical students who took the opportunity to learn more about how the substance affected people.
The anesthetic gas craze of the 1800s gave way to glue sniffing in the mid-1900s. In The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs, Edward M. Brecher and his coauthors stated that "before 1959, … glue sniffing was essentially unknown," and there were no "documented studies" of the practice. But in the summer of 1959, the Denver Post ran an article about a new trend occurring in Pueblo, Colorado. Youths were coating the palms of their hands with model airplane glue and then inhaling the fumes for their intoxicating effects. Brecher called the Denver Post article "the first full description [of glue sniffing] in the mass media." He also suggested that the warnings prompted by the article fueled "a further spread" of the inhalant problem. Instead of discouraging inhalant abuse, it seemed to increase interest among teens in this new method of getting high.
Inhaling gasoline gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. Gasoline remains a dangerous and widely abused inhalant around the world. At the end of the 1960s, the sniffing of other solventsA substance, usually liquid, that dissolves another substance. such as paint thinner, varnish remover, and lighter fluid was not yet common. aerosolGas used to propel, or shoot out, liquid substances from a pressurized can. sprays, however, became the inhalant of choice in the early 1970s.
Accessibility Adds to Problem
Preteens and teens often experiment with inhalants before any other drug. The main reason for this is the accessibility of inhalable products. Products that can be used as inhalants are available in just about every kitchen, bathroom, and home office. In addition, these products are inexpensive, legal, and easy to hide. Inhalants are also popular because they produce a high that, in general, hits fast and wears off quickly.
In "Sucking the Life from Your Child," an article that appeared on the Preteenagers Today Web site, Sue Marquette Poremba noted: "Oftentimes, kids don't consider it [inhalant use] drug use because they aren't using an illegal substance, like marijuana." The truth about inhalants is often shocking to individuals who have not been educated about their effects. Inhalants can kill, even if they are used just once. Inhalant use has been linked to the sudden deaths of otherwise healthy people. Even short-term use can cause damage to the brain, heart, liver, kidneys, and lungs. With prolonged use, inhalant abusers may also lose their sense of taste and develop problems with their hearing, vision, immune system, and muscle functions.
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