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Inhalants Facts

Given the media attention to illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and LSD, it's easy for parents to ignore the dangers facing their children from common household products that contain volatile solvents or aerosols. As a group, they are known as 'inhalants' - volatile substances producing chemical vapors that can be inhaled to induce a psychoactive, or mind-altering, effect. (Although other abused substances can be inhaled, the term "inhalants" is used to describe a variety of substances whose main common characteristic is that they are rarely, if ever, taken by any route other than inhalation.)

The list of inhalants is an eye-opening one: glues, nail polish remover, lighter fluid, spray paints, deodorant, hair sprays, canned whipped cream. All have been targeted by young people, who inhale the vapors in search of quick intoxication without any understanding of the serious health consequences that can result.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, national surveys indicate that nearly 23 million Americans have abused inhalants at least once in their lives. This includes approximately 16 percent of eighth-graders, although inhalant use has been known to begin as early as the fourth grade - a reflection of the problem well understood by the staff at Sunrise Recovery Ranch.

It's important for parents and children to understand that experimentation with these substances should not be taken lightly. Indicators of inhalant use may include slurred speech, nausea, lack of coordination, irritability and an appearance of being drunk or disoriented. Even a single session of repeated inhalant abuse, however, can disrupt heart rhythms and cause death from cardiac arrest. It can even lower oxygen levels enough to cause suffocation. Regular, ongoing abuse of inhalants can result in serious harm to vital organs including the brain, heart, kidneys, and liver.

For those reasons, it's important for parents to be alert to possible inhalant use by their children. One sign of use may be traces of inhalants on their body or clothing, or paint and solvent stains. Chemical-smelling breath is another possible sign, as are the discovery of hidden spray paint containers, rags and clothing soaked in chemicals, and an unreasonable number of used markers and correction fluid bottles.