Module 5

This module will help you: Know the history and background of inhalants Better understand inhalants as abused substances and its effects Understand why young people abuse inhalants

Inhalants are usually common household products which can be inhaled. Examples: nail polish remover, glue, gasoline, and household cleaners, fluorinated hydrocarbons (which are found in aerosols such as hairspray and spray paint)

 This includes certain industrial

(household) products such as paint thinner, nail polish remover, degreaser, dry-cleaning fluid, gasoline, glue as well as art or office supplies such as white-out, felt-tip marker fluid, and electronic contact cleaner

 Includes some commercial

(household) products such as butane lighters, propane tanks, whipped cream dispensers, and refrigerant gases as well as certain household aerosol propellants, such as those found in spray paint, hair spray, deodorant spray, and fabric protector spray. Medical anesthetic gases, such as ether, chloroform (most dangerous), halothane, and nitrous oxide

 Cyclohexyl nitrite (in products

such as room deodorizers) Amyl nitrite (for medical purposes) Butyl nitrite (was previously used in perfumes and antifreeze, and is now an illegal substance)

 Inhalant users inhale vapors or aerosol propellant

gases using plastic bags held over the mouth or by breathing from an open container of solvents, such as gasoline or paint thinner. Nitrous oxide gases from whipped cream aerosol cans and aerosol hairspray or non-stick frying spray are sprayed into plastic bags When inhaling non-stick cooking spray or other aerosol products, some users may filter the aerosolized particles out with a rag

 Some gases such as propane and butane gases are

inhaled directly from the canister Once these solvents or gases are inhaled, the extensive capillary surface of the lungs rapidly absorb the solvent or gas, and blood levels peak rapidly The intoxication effects occur so quickly that the effects of inhalation can resemble the intensity of effects produced by intravenous injection of other psychoactive drugs

 The immediate effects resemble alcohol inebriation

- stimulation, a sense of euphoria and intoxication This is followed by a period of depression The effects are short lived, resulting in the prospect of repeated abuse loss of sensation, and even unconsciousness Irreversible effects can be hearing loss, limb spasms, central nervous system or brain damage, or bone marrow damage. Sniffing high concentrations of inhalants may result in death from heart failure or suffocation (inhalants displace oxygen in the lungs).

 Long term abuse can lead to;

Permanent 'sniffer's rash
Conjunctivitis Liver, heart and kidney

damage Brain damage Death

 To avoid feeling hungry

Family problems
Peer Pressure Low self-esteem

Poor Mans Alternative to drugs