By: Charles Gunter

INHALANTS

inhalants is reserved for the wide variety of substances—including solvents, aerosols, gases, and nitrites—that are

rarely, if ever, taken via any other route of administration.

WHAT ARE INHALANTS/DEFINITION

Air blastAmesAmysAroma of menBoltBoppersBulletBullet boltBuzz bomb

DiscoramaHardwareHeart-onHiagra in a bottleHighballHippie crackHuffLaughing gasLocker roomMedusa

Moon gasOzPearlsPoor man’s potPoppersQuicksilverRush SnappersSatan’s secretShoot the breezeSnappers

SnotballsSprayTexas shoe shineThrustToilet waterTonchoWhippetsWhiteout

STREET NAMES

TYPES OF INHALANTS

Volatile solvents liquids that vaporize at room temperature. They are common household products.

TYPES OF INHALANTS

Aerosols are sprays that contain propellants and

solvents.

TYPES OF INHALANTS

GASES including medical anesthetics butane lighters, propane tanks, whipped cream dispensers and refrigerants

TYPES OF INHALANTS

NITRITES are considered a special class of inhalants which act directly on the central nervous system, brain and spinal cord. They are used mainly as sexual enhancers and are commonly known as “poppers” or “snappers.”

Users of inhalants often breathe them in through their nose or inhaled in through the mouth this is called

“huffing”. Soaking a cloth in the inhalant and sniffing the soaked cloth.

User also sniff or snort fumes from a container or dispenser. Put glue inside a plastic bag. Place the plastic

bag over the mouth and nose and begin to inhale. This gives the user an instant high

HOW ARE THEY USED

The common users of inhalant are around the ages of 12 to the ages of 17 as well as adults

Users from 12-15 often use glue, shoe polish, spray paints, gasoline, and lighter fluid

User 16- adults often use nitrous oxide, amyl nitrites

USERS

A. BRAIN The chemicals abused by inhalant users affect different parts of the brain, producing a variety of sensory and psychological disorders. Many

inhalants are thought to dissolve the protective myelin sheath that surrounds neurons - brain cells - resulting in cell death (see brain diagram).

B. CEREBRAL CORTEX Cellular death here causes permanent personality changes, memory impairment, hallucinations and learning disabilities.

C. CEREBELLUM This is the center that controls balance and coordination. Inhalant-related damage results in loss of coordination and slurred speech.

Chronic abusers experience tremors and uncontrollable shaking.

D. OPHTHALMIC NERVE Toluene may affect this nerve causing sight disorders

DAMAGE INHALANTS CANDO TO THE BRAIN

A. BLOOD Some substances like nitrites and methylene chloride (paint thinner) chemically block the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.

B. LUNGS Repeated use of spray paint as an inhalant can cause lung damage.

C. HEART Abuse of inhalants can result in "sudden sniffing death syndrome." This is due to a sudden and unexpected disturbance of the

heart's rhythm. All inhalants can produce sudden sniffing death syndrome.

D. LIVER Halogenated compounds like trichloroethylene (a component of aerosol paints and correction fluid) have been linked to damage of

this organ.

E. KIDNEY Inhalants containing toluene impair the kidney's ability to control the amount of acid in the blood. This is reversible when

toluene leaves the body but, in the long-term, kidney stones may develop.

DAMAGE INHALANTS CANDO TO THE BODY

After learning about the different types of inhalants. Have you ever noticed or have been in a situation where you found your self smelling or enjoying the smell of these products?

DISCUSSION QUESTION

Brick, John, and Carlton K. Erickson. Drugs, the Brain, and Behavior: The Pharmacology of Abuse and Dependence: The Pharmacology of Drug Use

Disorders. Routledge, 2013.

Drug Facts: Inhalants. (2012, September). Retrieved February 13, 2015, from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/inhalants

Garland, Eric L., and Matthew O. Howard. "Volatile Substance Misuse." CNS drugs 26.11 (2012): 927-935.

Klisch, Yvonne, et al. "The impact of a science education game on students’ learning and perception of inhalants as body pollutants." Journal

of science education and technology 21.2 (2012): 295-303.

Wong, Shane Shucheng, et al. "The risk of adolescent suicide across patterns of drug use: a nationally representative study of high school

students in the United States from 1999 to 2009." Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology 48.10 (2013): 1611-1620.

REFERENCES