DEA - Publications - Get It Straight!

U.S. Department of Justice
Drug Enforcement Administration
Get It Straight!

What's up with inhalants?

Inhalant abuse is really serious. When you sniff stuff like markers. nail polish remover spray paints, propane, rubber cement, glue, and nitrous oxide (Whippets), the junk that's in these products starves your body and your brain of the oxygen they need. Sniffing or "huffing," two ways inhalants are abused, make your heart beat inconsistently and too fast. You can die from sniffing inhalants too.

STREET NAMES: Glue, Bolt, Bullet, Locker Room, Rush, Whippets, and Texas Shoe Shine.

THE LOOK: The scary thing about inhalant abuse is that the products people inhale to get high are things that you have at home or things that you can buy. We've all seen them, and we know what they look like. These products are made and bought for specific reasons, and the directions on the back of the cans, containers, or bottles give us warnings Like: "Use in a well ventilated place. Do not inhale because the fumes can be dangerous to your health."

INHALANTS ARE PRODUCED: in factories.

INHALANT USE: Inhalants are sniffed or "huffed."

INHALANTS ARE LEGAL: The products that are used as inhalants are legal, but people who use them to get high run the risk of really hurting or even killing themselves.

INHALANTS, MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EFFECTS...

Sudden death
Violent behavior and angry feelings
Loss of memory and reasoning abilities
Hallucinations
Headaches
Nausea
Muscle weakness
A drug tolerance
Nosebleeds
Liver, lung, and kidney problems
Brain damage
Physical and mental dependence
Interferes with school responsibilities
Hyperactivity or sluggish behavior

[STUDENT NOTE] In a sense, inhalants are just as dangerous as LSD or heroin because using them can kill you. I know it may be hard to say no to your friends; I know it may be hard to say no to the quick high you may get; I know it may be hard to see that you actions today could really hurt you tomorrow. But, JUST DO IT!

After a lot of reading, Antonio uncovered the following article in a teen magazine. It is an opinion editorial, an article written by a sister of someone who died from inhalant abuse. The Prevention Posses thought it would be interesting to read about a real situation involving inhalant abuse, so, here it is!

Inhalants are Nothing to Sniff At

I lost my 13 year-old brother to inhalant abuse. He died in my arms at the county hospital, and there was nothing that the doctors could do. I was the one who took him to the hospital after some of his friends had a "sniffing party." He sniffed his way to his own death. He didn't know that inhalants could kill him.

Inhalant abuse is deadly serious. By starving the body of oxygen or forcing the heart to beat more rapidly and erratically, inhalants can kill sniffers - too many of whom are people around my brother's age.

Using inhalants even one time can put you at risk for: sudden death; suffocation; visual hallucinations; severe mood swings; and numbness and tingling of your hands and feet.

Long-term use of inhalants can result in: headaches, nausea, muscle weakness, stomach pains; decrease in or loss of your sense of smell;

nosebleeds; hepatitis; liver, lung, and kidney damage; violent behavior; and brain damage.

If inhalant use continues over a period of time, your body can develop a tolerance to the drug. This means that the user has to sniff or "huff" more poison and do it more frequently to achieve the high. The user is at much greater risk of suffering the long-term effects of using inhalants once he or she develops a tolerance.

Inhalants are dangerous. I wish that I could have told my brother all of these things. Maybe if I had, he would have made a no-use decision about using inhalants, and he would be alive today. I can do one thing. I can share what I know about inhalants with other people his age so that more brothers and sisters will live. That's why I am writing this article. Inhalants are nothing to sniff at, and this stuff can kill you.

FYI

In just 10 years the number of youth who have used inhalants has nearly doubled. How can you go to college or land a job with a killed brain?
The experts say that children as young as 4th graders who begin using inhalants will probably start to use other drugs like alcohol and marijuana.
Although most people who try them just experiment with inhalants, it can be a very dangerous experiment because huffing just once could kill you.
The great majority of teen don't use illegal drugs.

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