Jordan Martinez

Gustavo Ibarra
Health 1050
Inhalant Abuse
20% of 8th graders have experimented with some sort of inhalant. A survey shows that less than
half of the parents felt they knew enough about inhalants to discuss the issue with their children.
Inhalants are easily accessible for children of all ages and of course the products are perfectly legal
because they are common household cleaning or other supplies. Inhalants are considered a gateway drug
because people often progress after inhaling. Some of the products that can be huffed include: air
fresheners, butane, cooking spray, paints, and glues. (San Juan Narcotics Unit Investigating Inhalant
Abuse )
San Juan Police have been continuing to notice the trend of minors abusing inhalants. Whipits is what the use to call inhalants and whip-its have taken over the number one spot in cases they are
investigating. This article shows a video of a police car getting hit by another car while the officer was
on the side of the road for a traffic violation. The driver of the vehicle was an 18 year old, who in fact
was abusing inhalants and was high while driving, which most likely is the reason the teenager crashed
and found evidence of inhalant objects and objects such as cans and sprays in his car.
U.S. surveys from 2002 to 2006 found that teens ages 12 to 17 had used inhalants. More than
22.9 million Americans have experimented with inhalants. One state in the U.S. averaged more than
3,800 emergency room visits in 2008. In fact 22% of inhalant abusers who died of Sniffing Death
Syndrome had no previous history of inhaling and were first time users. In Nairobi, Kenya, 60,000
children live on the streets and most of them are addicted to some sort of inhalant.

Consequences of inhalant abuse includes: asphyxiation, seizures, and falling into a coma. At this
time there hasnt been enough research and data to obtain addiction death stats. Though knowing what
the long term effects are like bone marrow depletion, vision loss, reproductive issues, liver damage,
kidney damage, and brain damage. Every third week in March is the National Inhalants and Poisons
Awareness Week. (NIDA Report, 2013). Inhalants are said to be used and abused by children and
adolescents. Inhalants is the only class of substance abused more by young teens than older. Inhalants
arent very addictive but very possible to become addicted to. Withdrawals from the inhalant occur as
well when you stop.(National Institute on Drug Abuse. Inhalants)
Inhalants include a wide variety of household products, such as markers, cleaning fluids, glues,
and sprays. They all contain a substance that has psychoactive properties when inhaled. Inhalants are
absorbed through the nose or inhaled through the mouth. Since the buzz only for a few minutes, abusers
will inhale for several hours at a time. The short term effects of huffing include: slurred speech, lack of
coordination, dizziness, and euphoria. They also might experience hallucinations, or they become very
delusional, and even pass out unconscious. The long term effects of huffing include damage to the brain
cells and nerve fibers. Brain cells become damaged due to the chemicals blocking the brain from getting
enough oxygen and depending on which part of the brain is being blocked will affect particular body
functions. When nerve fibers become damaged, it is due to the chemicals breaking down the protective
sheath fibers. This causes nerve cells to be unable to send messages resulting in tremors and muscle
spasms.
Inhalants are said to be used and abused by children and adolescents. Inhalants is the only class
of substance abused more by young teens than older. Inhalants arent very addictive but very possible to
become addicted to. Withdrawals from the inhalant occur as well when you stop. Inhalants are covered
by the dangers of being used as drugs. The books educational value, I would say is very informative and

helped me gain a better grasp on inhalants and drug usage and how to be safe if ever accidentally
exposed for a long period of time. Though inhalants are as popularly used as compared to other drugs
such as LSD, inhalants are the most easiest to gain access to it; this books informs us why kids are at
risk and how it is damaging it is to ones brain.
The major point of the book, I found, was understanding the reputation and how serious of an
issue it really is when it comes to abusing inhalants. I found this to be the major point because inhalants
dont necessarily have a huge reputation for being anything too crazy; but when it comes to accessibility
to children at a young age where it can do the most damage to a child and they could accidentally
become exposed and damage their brain function just that easily, should be alarming to parents.
Inhalants was an informational textbook style and went deep talking about how these toxic
fumes are found in gasoline, paints, aerosols, cleaning supplies, and even in some children coloring
markers. They also do a well job pointing out the short and long term effect of abusing inhalants and
what it can do to the body and what it is like to be high from inhaling toxic fumes from cleaners is like.
What I didnt like about the book is, as an entirety, the book was very boring with the hint of interesting
information. Overall, the book helps understand the severity inhalants impose to a family household.
Very educational book to help a student write a report on this certain drug. Abusers of inhalants breathe
them in through the nose or mouth in a variety of ways. They may sniff or snort fumes from a container
or spray aerosols directly into their nose or mouth, or place a chemical-soaked rag in their mouth.
Abusers may also inhale fumes from a balloon or a plastic or paper bag. Although the high produced by
inhalants usually lasts just a few minutes, abusers often try to prolong it by continuing to inhale
repeatedly over several hours.

Work Cited
"San Juan Narcotics Unit Investigating Inhalant Abuse." KRGV.com. 02 Feb. Frankly Media 2016. Web.
17 Feb. 2016. The Truth About Inhalants
"The Truth about Inhalants." Drug Free World. Web. 17 Feb. 2016. Inhalant Addictions
"Inhalant Abuse." Alliance for Consumer Education. 2015. Web.
Petersen, Christine. Inhalants. Cavendish. Marshall Corporation, 1 Sept. 2013.
Web.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Inhalants Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/drugsAbuse/inhalants on February 3, 2016