To inhale a
solvent(like toluene and
acetone) for the purpose of intoxication.It can be poured into an empty bottle or onto a rag.As soon as it's inhaled the extensive capillary surface of the lungs rapidly absorb the solvent and blood levels raise quickly.The effects vary depending on how much of what type of solvent(or gas) is inhaled*.
Users may experience headache,nausea and vomiting,slurred speech,loss of motor coordination, and wheezing.
Inhalant users can be injured or killed via
hypoxia, pneumonia,
cardiac failure or arrest.Some solvents can cause irreversible effects such as hearing loss, limb spasms, and damage to the central nervous system and brain.Serious effects include liver and kidney damage and oxygen depletion.Inhaling from a plastic bag or in a closed area greatly increases the chances of suffocation.
Precise statistics on deaths caused by
inhalant abuse are difficult to determine, as it is considered a dramatically under-reported cause of death due to the common result of a cause-of-death determination being attributed to the side-effects of inhalant abuse (such as a blood vessel rupture in the brain or a heart attack) rather than to the abuse itself.Some
inhalants can also cause
sudden death by cardiac arrest, in a syndrome known as Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome.
*A person who has inhaled a small amount of
paint thinner vapor may experience stimulation, euphoria and intoxication, then a crash.A person who has inhaled larger quantity of a stronger chemical may experience distortion in perceptions of time and space, hallucinations, and emotional disturbances.
Alena
huffed butane gas and died of cardiac arrest.
In 1999, five high school girls died in a car accident outside Philadelphia after the driver and three of the passengers huffed computer keyboard cleaner.(true story)
Mitzi, an
inhalant user, became pregnant and in turn caused effects on the fetus.Her baby is smaller than the average and has birth defects.Because Mitzi chose to huff, her baby needs additional health care.
