What is Inhalant Abuse?
Most parents are aware that drug use can inflict serious physical and emotional damage on their children, and remain on the lookout for signs that their kids may be abusing marijuana, cocaine, LSD, and (more recently) prescription medications. What they may not know, though, is that a wide range of lethal substances may be easily accessible within their own homes.
Thousands of U.S. youth are inhaling fumes from substances including inhaling fumes from cleaning fluids, hair spray, whipped cream canisters, and hundreds of other common household items.
As a research report issued by Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) indicates, this behavior can have devastating results:
National surveys indicate that more than 22.9 million Americans have abused inhalants at least once in their lives. NIDA's Monitoring the Future study reveals that 17.3 percent of eighth-graders have abused inhalants. Parents and children need to know that experimentation with these substances should not be taken lightly.
Even a single session of repeated inhalant abuse can disrupt heart rhythms and cause death from cardiac arrest or lower oxygen levels enough to cause suffocation. Regular abuse of these substances can result in serious harm to vital organs including the brain, heart, kidneys, and liver.
As is the case with prescription medications, some children mistakenly believe that the legality and prevalence of inhalants means that these substances are safer than illegal drugs such as marijuana or heroin. Sadly, statistics bear out the fact that this is not the case, and hundreds of youth die every year after “sniffing” (inhaling through the nose) or “huffing” (breathing in through the mouth) products such as the ones described in this article.
According to NIDA, inhalants fall into the following four categories:
- Volatile solvents – liquids that vaporize at room temperature (examples: paint thinners and removers, dry-cleaning fluids, degreasers, gasoline, glues, correction fluids, and felt-tip marker fluids)
- Aerosols – sprays that contain propellants and solvents (examples: spray paints, deodorant and hair sprays, vegetable oil sprays for cooking, and fabric protector sprays)
- Gases – medical anesthetics as well as gases used in household or commercial products (examples: chloroform, nitrous oxide – also known as “laughing gas,” butane lighters, propane tanks, whipped cream dispensers, and refrigerants)
- Nitrites – a special class of inhalants that act directly on the central nervous system (examples: isoamyl (amyl) nitrite, and isobutyl (butyl) nitrite, commonly known as “poppers” or “snappers”)
The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC) reports that the following are common signs of inhalant use:
- spots and/or sores around the mouth
- unusual breath odor
- drunk, dazed or dizzy appearance
- correction fluid on fingernails
- sitting with a pen or marker near the nose
- constantly smelling shirt sleeves
- nausea and/or loss of appetite
- paint or stain marks on clothing or on skin
NIPC also reports that long-term use of some inhalants can result in myriad\d consequences and impairments, including the following:
- short-term memory loss
- emotional instability
- slurred speech
- impaired hearing and sense of smell
- twitching eyes
Treatment for inhalant abuse usually involves a variety of therapeutic techniques to address both the abuse itself and any underlying causes. Inhalants are not believed to be physically addicting, though abusers can develop a tolerance (meaning that they need to inhale greater quantities to achieve the same effect). No medications have yet been developed to help end inhalant abuse.
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