Inhalants

Solvents tend to produce a state similar to being drunk, but there is even greater distortion in depth perception, time and space. Actually, the effects are extremely wide-ranging and will depend on the person in question, what they inhaled and the method they used to do it.

So it's extremely hard to say, "If you see this behavior, then that person did this inhalant." In general, symptoms of use could be a feeling of euphoria, exhilaration, some hallucinatory effects, giddiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, sneezing and coughing, staggering, slow reflexes and sensitivity to light.

Nitrous oxide (a gas) produces more of a a dreamy, floating mental state, loss of motor control, hallucinations and an increased threshold for pain. Nitrites (ie: amyl nitrate) dilate blood vessels and relax muscles. The heartbeat quickens and blood rushes to the head, creating a "rush." Nitrites also cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and flushing. Some men use nitrites during sex because of the drug's capacity to relax muscles and promote blood flow. It will often be taken concurrently with erectile-dysfunction drugs such as Viagra.

Several breaths of solvents will produce a significant high within a few minutes of use and that high could last up to 45 minutes. If additional breaths are taken, depending on the inhalant in question and the person in question, the effects can last for several hours. As the effects wear off, the person may feel drowsy and have a hangover with a mild-to-severe headache which can last from a few hours to several days. Conversely, the effects of nitrous oxide and nitrites are immediate, and wear off within a few minutes.

Because of how solvents are ingested and what they do to you once you ingest them, there are some inherent dangers. Solvents are often sniffed from a plastic bag held firmly around the nose and mouth. If the user passes out with the bag still in place, they will suffocate due to lack of oxygen. Choking on vomit when unconscious is another major cause of inhalant-related death.

The use of inhalants reduces perception and the sensation of pain in the person themselves and sometimes induces an artificial level of power and confidence that can lead to very dangerous behaviors. For others, the effects are just the opposite, because using the inhalant will make them extremely depressed, self-destructive and even suicidal. The substance itself is a danger as well, even before it's ingested. Most inhalants are highly flammable, and if you're not careful with an open flame, or a cigarette, you can start a fire and in many cases, light yourself on fire.

If you continue to use highly concentrated inhalants, you can induce a rapid or irregular heartbeat which can lead to complete heart failure. Regular use over a prolonged period can damage the liver, kidneys, lungs, heart, brain, bones and blood. Sometimes this damage can repair itself when the use of the inhalant is stopped, sometimes it is permanent. Using inhalants while pregnant can result in premature babies, or babies stillborn.

Most kids will tell you that it's easy to get inhalants from around the house and the average house will have about thirty "sniffable" products readily available. Few parents are going to miss the odd can of whipping cream or non-stick spray and there's more than enough nitrous oxide in either of those to get high. Some shops sell "crackers," or "whippets" which are small pressurized containers of nitrous oxide. "Poppers" are devices used to quickly release the gas for inhalation.

For large parties and raves, getting a large tank of nitrous oxide can be done if you're good enough at conning an outlet that sells it and you have enough money. (The deposit on the tank typically costs more than the gas.)

Pure nitrous oxide starves the body of oxygen which can cause significant damage including adverse effects on bone marrow, hearing complications, and even death. It also causes disorientation and degradation of motor function which means it's easy to seriously hurt yourself by falling down. As it's released from the cylinder, nitrous oxide is extremely cold, and as a result, it can freeze the skin. Just the pressure in the tank can also cause damage to the lungs and nerve damage. .

Since nitrates reduce inhibition and are often used coincidentally during sex, it naturally follows that they promote an increased risk of unsafe sexual practices. An increased risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis are associated with nitrite use. It's also thought that excessive nitrate use impairs the immune system that protects you from infectious diseases. Combine this with your reduced state of inhibition and....well you can do the math there.

The majority of people using inhalants use them on an experimental and occasional basis. However, people who use inhalants regularly can develop "tolerance," which means more and more of the substance is needed to produce the same high, or buzz that you're looking for. Regular use also leads to a persistent craving for the high, which makes it hard to stop using. When regular use is stopped, withdrawal symptoms may include nausea, loss of appetite, tremors, anxiety, depression and paranoia.

Frankly, there are so many serious effects of long-term use of inhalants (including death) that it's almost redundant to list them. Anything is possible, there's just no bright side to long-term use.

Withdrawal symptoms due to abrupt cessation of inhalant use are usually mild but in some cases much more severe symptoms are possible. These can include states of anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, irritation, aggressive behavior, dizziness, tremors and nausea.

Frankly, there aren't really a whole lot of treatment centers specifically designed to treat inhalant abuse in North America. Treatment for inhalants differs from other forms of drug treatment for the following reasons. People who abuse inhalants typically are using more than one, perhaps several substances concurrently. (this is called "polydrug" abuse) Therefore, a detailed and comprehensive history and thorough physical examination is critically important to identify exactly what they've got in their system and what it's doing to them.

This is then followed by medical treatment of the physical conditions. Secondly, inhalants can stay in the body for periods of weeks, therefore complete detoxification periods could extend for a month to a onth and a half. Abusers are often not ready or even mentally equipped to begin therapy until detoxification is complete, and they often require therapy for a long duration (possibly as long as 2 years.

In addition, people who abuse inhalants tend to have short attention spans and significant difficulty with complex thinking, so initial therapy sessions have to be relatively short. Most abusers of inhalants often come from chaotic or abusive family environments, have extremely low self-esteem and self-worth, poor academic records and cognitive function, and some may have outright neurological deficiencies.

As a result, the treatment required is much more complicated than typical treatment and requires an inordinate amount of resources. To this end, many drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs do not accept people who abuse inhalants, and those that do consider their type of treatment ineffective for such clients.

In New Zealand, there are a number of drug treatment options. Some aim solely for the user to achieve a drug-free lifestyle. Others recognize abstinence as one option, however, due to individual circumstances, this may not be possible in certain situations. The overall aim of these programs is harm-reduction oriented.

Obviously, treatment is more effective if it's tailored to suit a person’s specific situation and usually involves a combination of methods. With inhalants this is particularly needed because as stated, the person being treated will likely be suffering from multiple problems or disorders. At the very least, the treatment environment that you choose has to account for the special dynamics of inhalant abuse. There should be no chemicals, aerosols, solvents, etc. anywhere near the treatment facility, and if there are, they would be locked away and closely inventoried.

And again, we have to remember the environment many of these people come from. It is not a good idea to put them in a program that tries to tear them down. (also known as ego-deflation) Most of these kids don't even have an ego to break down, and are much better served by having their self-image and self-esteem built up, not torn down, because the results of deflating their ego any further could be disasterous.

It's important to remember that while inhalant abuse is a problem, it's the symptom of a larger problem. Once we figure out who is doing it, where they're doing it, when they're doing it, we must then tackle the bigger issue - why are they doing it? What is it about being wasted and totally out of it that's attractive to the individual? And that's terribly important because when you're totally out of "it," the "it" you're referring to is life.

This will take time and it will take more time than can be offered through a 28 day treatment program. Many of these kids aren't really going through rehabilitation because basically, they've never been "habilitated" to begin with.

Because inhalant abuse largely involves younger kids, we can't possibly think of a better case for a "continuum of care" type of program that should be in place for them. This type of program should include, but not be limited to, a qualified social worker who knows the family setting the child comes from, and the underlying issues that could be contributory to the substance abuse problem.

If you need additional information, you could visit Tthe National Inhalant Prevention Coalition: Just paste this link into your browser: http://www.inhalants.org/index.htm