2.4.4

Inhalants

Have you ever used a household cleaner or fueled up a small engine? Have you ever repaired anything with glue or stripped paint from the walls of a room so that you could repaint it? Have you ever used nail polish remover on your fingernails? If you have been involved in any of these activities or anything similar, you may have seen certain messaging on the label of the cleaning or fuel products you used:

“Use in a well-ventilated area.” or “Inhalation Hazard.”

These words or something similar are placed on these labels or even warning stickers for your protection. If you inhale certain products for too long without a source of fresh air, you can become ill or, in the worst case, die from exposure to certain fumes given off by these products. And yet, there are those who deliberately inhale these products and others like them to get a quick high. Even worse, many who inhale such products are younger people getting their first introduction to substance abuse!

WHY?

We hope you are asking yourself this question. Why would a person want to sniff or inhale something that is demonstrably harmful to your health when misused? Sadly, it’s for the same reason someone drinks alcohol to excess or takes heroin or barbiturates or pick any substance that can harm you when abused.

Inhalants produce fumes and these fumes can cause changes in your behavior as they alter the state of your mind and thought. As with other substances you have read about, inhaling a harmful substance can cause negative effects both in the short and long term. Think about it. When you put something to your nose and sniff or inhale, the fragrance or smell or fumes emitted have an express lane right up to your brain! How can inhalants NOT alter your mind?

Inhalants include volatile solvents, gases, aerosols, and nitrites. The reason these substances are called inhalants is because inhaling them is the only way to get them into your system. You are probably well aware that drinking nail polish remover or gasoline or paint thinner will most likely kill you pretty quickly. So the only option is to breath them in – again, a practice that can have terrible side effects causing irreversible damage to your body and your brain. Is getting a quick high really worth such a risk? 

The high provided by these inhalants does not last for long. So, what do you think a person using an inhalant will do? They take another whiff….and another…and another. And they feel good for a brief time while their brains are damaged to varying degrees.

People who use inhalants will sniff them right from the container or pour the product on a rag and cover their nose with it to get full effect (we hope you are shaking your head at this thought). They might pour a small amount of a substance into a plastic bag and sniff from there (this practice is called “bagging” in slang terms). With an aerosol spray can, a user might spray a substance directly into their nose. Whatever the method of choice, people are taking harmful fumes into their body and causing a direct impact on their nervous system. While the high they may get seems like it provides a simple way to just feel good, that high is actually harmful changes occurring in their brains. And some of these changes could be lasting.

Sadly, there are reasons that cause many people to use inhalants (there is no good reason because there is no real benefit to inhaling these dangerous products).

 People who use inhalants are likely:

• Victims of abuse, physical or sexual
• Individuals with long criminal histories
• Violent by nature
• Already suffering from another substance use disorder
• From broken homes/families
• Suffering from depression and possibly suicidal
• Experiencing other problems such as poverty, unemployment, or mental health issues

This is a good time to reemphasize the importance of having good friends and strong family ties. Remember that a lot of substance abuse comes about as a result of problems an individual cannot deal with. Often times, this is because the individual has no safety net or support system. Again, NEVER be afraid to seek advice or help from family or friends if you are at a point where you are considering using inhalants or abusing any substance.

 Abusing some substance does not solve your problems; it only creates new ones.

The experience you have when using an inhalant can differ based on the individual. Height and weight can affect the level of your altered state. Tolerance to a substance can do the same. Remember, experiencing only short term highs, those who use inhalants do so repeatedly.

If you use other drugs, they can also impact how an inhalant will affect you. So, too can your location. Sniffing from a bag you have sealed around your nose will have a more direct impact than sniffing from a bottle while you are outside, where fresh air can help to diminish the impact – and damage caused – by whatever you are sniffing.

Effects of Inhalants

You probably recognize many of these symptoms; they are associated with many of the substances, both legal and illegal, that you have already read about. And, as you might expect, you can become dependent on inhalants. On top of that, the most severe damage you can suffer from inhalant use includes:

• Tremors.
• Damage to the Heart Muscle, Liver, and/or Kidney
• Brain damage.
• Coma.
• Delayed behavioral development in children and young adults (you’ll soon read that  young people are among the greatest number of those who use inhalants).
• And, of course, death

So, what are all of these substances you should not use? Well first off, we are not telling you not to use these products for their intended purposes – we are strongly advising you against inhaling them just for a quick high. Repeated use to maintain the high damages your brain even more, and, as you build up tolerance to any substance, you need more of it.

Consider common volatile solvents that people abuse:

• Paint thinners.
• Paint removers.
• Degreasers.
• Gasoline.
• Rubber cement.
• Lighter fluid.
• Glues.
• Nail polish removers.
• Dry cleaning fluids.
• Correction fluids.
• Felt tip markers

These are all everyday items that you use, sometimes regularly. But you use them for their intended purpose, right? So ask yourself this: “Have I ever felt off when or after I used one of these common products?” If you answer, “Yes” to that, you may have experienced the detrimental effects that come from inhaling the product. If that’s the case, you may not have used the product in an area that provided sufficient ventilation. Take extra care and be more aware next time you must use the product.

How about other solvents?

• Spray paints.
• Spray deodorant.
• Hair spray.
• Vegetable oil spray.
• Fabric protector spray.

Again, these are all common items that have labels warning you to use them with adequate ventilation. Do you have enough ventilation when you use them?

Then we have inhalants classified as gases:

• Chloroform.
• Halothane.
• Nitrous oxide (laughing gas).

You may have heard of the last one. Nitrous oxide is used by dentists as a pain killer. Cylinders of nitrous oxide can also be used in the auto industry to enhance the power of certain types of vehicles. Again, regardless of the legitimate uses, it is illegal to possess and use nitrous oxide for recreation purposes/human consumption.

 Finally are the Nitrites:

• Cyclohexyl nitrite.
• Isoamyl (amyl) nitrite.
• Isobutyl (butyl) nitrite

These chemicals have a direct effect on your central nervous system. That, of course, is what controls you bodily functions both voluntary and involuntary. Do you really want to risk damaging these systems?

If you are wondering about the possibility of overdosing on inhalants, here is your answer:

Yes, you can overdose on inhalants.

The repeated inhalation to maintain a high can cause the oxygen in your lungs to be displaced. If you place a large plastic bag over your head to get the full effect of the fumes, you can suffocate (remember, someone who does this has likely lost common sense and thinking skills or is uninhibited and willing to take the risk). And you can choke to death if vomiting occurs and you swallow or choke on it – sorry to be so graphic, but the reality of this kind of substance abuse is something that you must be aware of.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/inhalants

You might be interested to note that in 2020, 2.4 million individuals as young as age 12

(yes, age 12)  said that they had used an inhalant in the past year. We hope you agree that the number of users is simply too big and the age of many of these users is far too small.

 Unfortunately, inhalant use in such numbers causes some people to suffer from Inhalant Use Disorder. Many of the symptoms of this disorder are the same as those you read about for regular inhalant abuse. But for someone with inhalant abuse disorder, more serious medical problems can develop:

• Tuberculosis.
• HIV/AIDS.
• Sexually transmitted infections.
• Bronchitis.
• Asthma.
• Sinusitis.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15742-inhalant-abuse

We’ve got to ask one more time: “Is it worth it?”