Inhalants

• What is it?
  
  Inhalants are ordinary household products that are inhaled or sniffed by children to get high. There are hundreds of household products on the market today that can be misused as inhalants.

• What does it look like?
  
  Examples of products kids abuse to get high include model aeroplane glue, nail polish remover, cleaning fluids, hair spray, gasoline and spray paint.

• How is it used?
  
  These products are sniffed, snorted, bagged (fumes inhaled from a plastic bag) or huffed (inhalant-soaked rag, sock or roll of toilet paper in the mouth) to achieve a high.

• Short-term effects:
  
  When inhaled via the nose or mouth into the lungs in sufficient concentrations, inhalants can cause intoxicating effects. Intoxication can last only a few minutes or several hours, if inhalants are taken repeatedly. Initially, users may feel slightly stimulated; with successive inhalations, they may feel less inhibited and less in control.

• Long-term effects:
  
  Other irreversible effects caused by inhaling specific solvents are hearing loss, limb spasms, central nervous system or brain damage. Serious but potentially reversible effects include liver and kidney damage and blood oxygen depletion.

• Inhalant Dangers:
  
  Death from inhalants usually is caused by a very high concentration of fumes. Deliberately inhaling from an attached paper or plastic bag or in a closed area greatly increases the chances of suffocation.

• Legal Status:
  
  Illegal to sell to anybody under 16 years.