Children Using Inhalants: A Form Of Drug Addiction
There have been many reported cases of parents having problems with their children because of the latter's using of inhalants. And what exactly are inhalants? These are a broad range of substances in the forms of solvents, aerosols or gases that, when breathed in, cause certain effects on some of the body organs and their functions.
Some of the inhalants involved in such problems include chemical products that may be found in homes or for industrial uses. Examples of these are household cleaning fluids, glue, nail polish removers, paint thinners, kerosene, the various aerosol products (such as aerosol air fresheners, hair sprays, and deodorant sprays), and some gases (butane or propane, for example). The latter are breathed in directly from canisters.
There really are inhalant drugs that are used for medical purposes, such as the "laughing gas" which is used as a dental anesthetic. But obviously, the products enumerated above are not intended to be "inhaled" or used for medical purposes.
Using such products for their intoxicating effect may be considered a form of drug addiction. These products are particularly dangerous because they are both inexpensive and easy to obtain; they are the "drugs" that children, aged seven to sixteen, are most likely to use or abuse. This is especially true in places where access to other drugs may be restricted.
Inhalants can cause intoxication (similar to that caused by alcohol), flushed face, dizziness, confusion, euphoria, and hallucinations. The sudden change in behavior of the user makes him liable to injury, not unlike the possible fate a person may end up with when driving a car while under the influence of liquor.
Long-term hazards include risk of damage to the brain, kidney or liver, and possible death from heart failure, pneumonia, or hypoxia (a condition in which the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply).
Perhaps the most life-threatening form of this type of drug addiction is that in which solvents are sniffed; the danger becomes even greater, with the added risk of hypoxia, when a plastic bag containing the solvent is held close to the face, such that the user is not breathing enough fresh air. Sniffing solvents can cause severe physical and mental damage. Cases of death among teenagers from sniffing solvents are recorded