Inhalants

            The word inhalant refers to more than a thousand household and commercial products that can be abused by inhaling them for an intoxicating effect. These products are most commonly sniffed: lighter fluids; cleaning solutions; gasoline; paint; glue; and paint products. They are most commonly sniffed because they are low in cost, and have an easy accessibility. Most of these products are sniffed or huffed directly from the containers of products such as rubber cement. Some other was that these items can be sniffed or huffed is from a plastic bag over the head, or through a cloth saturated with the substance. Statistics show that young, white males have the highest usage rates. Hispanic and American Indian populations also high rates of usage.
             Usually the first use of inhalants occurs between late childhood and early adolescence. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, there were an estimated 1,125,000 new inhalant users in 2001, up from 86,000 in 1965. In 2002 of those surveyed aged 12 and older, 22,870,000 (9.7% of the population) reported using some kind of inhalant at least once in their lifetime. In 2003 11.2% of 12th graders, 12.7% of 10th graders, and 15.8% of 8th graders have used an inhalant in their lifetime. During this same time period, 1.5% of seniors, 2.2% of sophomores, and 4.1% of 8th graders had used inhalants in the past month.
             Inhalants can affect the body in many ways. Most inhalants slow the body's functions down. If a first time user sniffs a lot he or she can lose consciousness. Sniffing highly concentrated amounts of chemicals can cause heart failure or death, especially when abuse of fluorocarbons or butane-type gases is involved. Permanent effects caused by the use of inhalants include hearing loss, peripheral neuropathies or limb spasms, central nervous system or brain damage, and bone marrow damage. Some other side effects include liver and kidney damage as well as blood oxygen depletion.