INHALANTS -- SNIFFING AND SNORTING

Even the most aware parents may miss the latest drug kids are abusing – because they are not one, but a laundry list of COMMON CHEMICALS being huffed, sniffed and snorted. Many are household chemicals found in most homes.

Inhalants are substances whose vapors can and ARE being inhaled to produce a mind-altering effect. Inhalants as a class of drugs share one main characteristic: They are rarely, if ever, taken by any route other than inhalation. That’s why kids refer to their use as “huffing.”

Inhalants’ street names are Glue, Kick, Bang, Sniff, Huff, Poppers, Whippets, or Texas Shoeshine. Inhalants include a large group of chemicals that are found in such household products as aerosol sprays, cleaning fluids, glue, paint, paint thinner, gasoline, propane, nail polish remover, correction fluid, and marker pens. None of these are safe to inhale--they can all kill you. What parent would suspect a can of whipped cream?

NOTE TO PARENTS: Chemicals like amyl nitrite and isobutyl nitrite (“poppers”) and nitrous oxide (“whippets”) are often sold at concerts and dance clubs. They can permanently damage your body and brain.

“The intentional misuse of commercial inhalants, like butane and toluene, can lead to death, addiction and other very serious health problems,” says Dr. Bertha Madras, Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

“Store-owners, educators, medical professionals, parents, and especially young people enrolled in middle schools and high schools need to be aware of the dangers of misusing inhalants. Due to the fact that inhalants are generally legal, cheap, and available, young people are more at risk for inhalant misuse, and the dangers associated with that misuse, including brain damage, organ failure, cardiac arrest, convulsions, deafness, impaired vision, impaired motor skills, and loss of judgment. Even first time use of inhalants can lead to death. Now is the time to raise awareness of this national drug problem, and work to prevent our youth from the cycle of inhalant addiction.”

According to government studies, current trends are positive in two respects. Increasingly, young people surveyed see "great risk" in trying inhalants. At the same time, the percentage reporting inhalant abuse is declining

That said, I’m going to repeat: Even one percent is a major disaster if your child is in that percentage, isn’t it? And worse, studies show that inhalants are often among the first drugs that young children use. About 6 percent of children in the United States have tried inhalants by the time they reach fourth grade.

Together, data show that an estimated 1.1 million adolescents used inhalants in the past year, even though huffing can be fatal. If you believe these statistics are optimistic, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’ll sell you cheap.

Inhalant abusers can sniff or snort fumes from containers, spray aerosols directly into the nose or mouth, "huff" fumes from an inhalant-soaked rag stuffed into the mouth, sniff fumes from substances sprayed into a paper or plastic bag, or even inhale from balloons filled with nitrous oxide. The quick high from inhalants lasts only a few minutes, so abusers often inhale repeatedly over several hours-a practice that can cause unconsciousness and even death.

Inhaled chemicals are rapidly absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream and quickly distributed to the brain and other organs. Within seconds of inhalation, the user experiences intoxication along with other effects similar to those produced by alcohol. Alcohol-like effects may include slurred speech, an inability to coordinate movements, euphoria, and dizziness. In addition, users may experience lightheadedness, hallucinations, and delusions.

Signs include chemical odors on the breath or clothes, paint or other stains on skin or clothes, slurred speech and drunk or disoriented appearance, nausea or lack of appetite, and inattentiveness and lack of coordination.

Myths and facts about inhalants

Myth: They must be safe because everyone has them in their house.

Fact: No, they are not safe. They can kill you first time used. Household or other common chemicals have been designed for external use. When they are inhaled into the body, they are extremely dangerous.

Myth: A little won’t harm you.

Fact: One “huff” can kill you. Or the 10th. Or the 100th.
Even if you have huffed before without experiencing a problem, there's no way of knowing how the next huff will affect you.

Myth: Well, it only makes me high; it doesn’t affect anyone else.

Fact: Inhalants affect your brain and can cause you to suddenly engage in violent, or even deadly, behavior. You could hurt yourself or the people you love.

The most serious hazard for inhalant abusers is a syndrome called "sudden sniffing death." A single, prolonged session of inhalant use can produce rapid and irregular heart rhythms, heart failure, and death. It can happen within minutes and can strike an otherwise healthy young person. But inhalant abuse can cause death in other ways, too – by asphyxiation, suffocation, or choking.

Chronic exposure to inhalants causes widespread and long-lasting damage to the nervous system and other vital organs. The toxic chemicals damage parts of the brain that control learning, movement, vision, and hearing. Damage to the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys may be permanent.

Listed below are some of the chemicals being inhaled and how they affect the body:

 Amyl nitrate, butyl nitrate, street slang “poppers”, “video head cleaner”. Sudden sniffing death syndrome, suppressed immunologic function, injury to red blood cells interfering with oxygen supply to vital organs.

 Benzene, fond in gasoline. Bone marrow injury, impaired immunologic function, increased risk of leukemia, reproductive system toxicity.

 Butane, propone, found in lighter fluid, hair and paint sprays. Sudden sniffing death syndrome via cardiac effects, serious burn injuries because of its flammability.

 Freon, which is used as a refrigerant and aerosol propellant. Sudden sniffing death syndrome, respiratory obstruction and death from sudden cooling/cold injury to airways, liver damage.

 Methylene chloride, found in paint thinners and removers, degreasers. Reduction of oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, changes of the heart muscle and heartbeat.

 Nitrous Oxide called “laughing gas” hexane. Death from lack of oxygen to the brain, altered perception and motor coordination, loss of sensation, limb spasms, blackout caused by blood pressure changes, depression heart muscle functioning.

 Toluene. Found in paint thinners, paint removers, correction fluid. Causes brain damage, impaired walking, impaired cognition, impaired coordination, limb spasms, hearing and vision loss, heart and liver damage.

 Trichloroethylene, found in antigreasant and spot removers. Causes sudden sniffing death syndrome, hearing and vision damage, cirrhosis of the liver and reproductive complications.

Source: SAMHSA, the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information and the National Center for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI)

For more information about inhalants and other drugs, call SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information 800-729-6686