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Inhalants

Brief Description

Inhalants are breathable chemical vapors that users intentionally inhale because of the chemicals' mind-altering effects. The substances inhaled are often common household products that contain volatile solvents, aerosols, or gases.

Street Names

Whippets, poppers, snappers

Effects

Most inhalants produce a rapid high that resembles alcohol intoxication. If sufficient amounts are inhaled, nearly all solvents and gases produce a loss of sensation, and even unconsciousness. Irreversible effects can be hearing loss, limb spasms, central nervous system or brain damage, or bone marrow damage. Sniffing high concentrations of inhalants may result in death from heart failure or suffocation (inhalants displace oxygen in the lungs).

Statistics and Trends

In 2009, 2.1 million Americans age 12 and older had abused inhalants. Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Web Site). The NIDA-funded 2010 Monitoring the Future Study showed that 8.1% of 8th graders, 5.7% of 10th graders, and 3.6% of 12th graders had abused inhalants at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. Source: Monitoring the Future (University of Michigan Web Site).

Related Publications

Inhalants (DrugFacts)

Revised September 2012.
Provides an overview of inhalants, such as types of products commonly inhaled, how they affect the brain, other adverse effects on health, and the scope of use of inhalants in the U.S. En Español

Publication: Research Report Series - Inhalant Abuse

Inhalant Abuse (Research Reports)

Published May 1999. Revised July 2012.
Provides scientific research on the nature and extent of inhalant abuse, its potential health consequences, and hazards of chemicals found in commonly abused inhalants. En Español

Publication Cover

Inhalants (Mind Over Matter)

Published January 1997.
Describes how inhalants, such as hair spray, gasoline, and spray paint, can cause nerve cell damage in the brain that can affect the body in a lot of ways. En Español

Related Resources

Other Resources

Past information on many drugs of abuse is available on our Archives site.

Tags

This page was last updated December 2012

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