What are inhalants?
They are toxic chemicals whose fumes are inhaled for getting a quick high. They are as potent as any drug like cocaine or morphine. More than a thousand very common household products can be used for this. They work like anesthetics as they give a sudden high after which the user experiences drowsiness and other reactions.
Some of the chemicals that are popular as inhalants are shoe polish, room fresheners, spray paint, glue, lighter fluid, gasoline and such others that are found in almost every household.
Street names of inhalants
There are many names by which these drugs are known. Even though a wide range of products are used as inhalants, these are terms that are used for all those chemicals that have this effect and not for specific products.
- Air blast
- Hiagra in a bottle
- Aroma of men
- Moon gas
- Texas shoe shine
- Poor man’s pot
- Toilet water
- Poppers
- Satan’s secret
- Rush snappers
Types of inhalants
There are many chemicals that are used as inhalants. But they can be grouped into four broad types, based on their form and composition.
- Liquids: They are chemicals that vaporise when kept at room temperature. They can be found in many household products like gasoline, glue, correction fluids.
- Sprays: They are sprays that come in cans. They are products like spray paints, fabric protector, deodorants and hair sprays.
- Gases: They may be medical anesthetics like nitrous oxide and chloroform as well as refrigerants, butane lighters and whipped cream dispensers.
- Nitrites: They are chemical compounds found in preservatives, room fresheners and some other products. They act on the central nervous system and are primarily used as sexual enhancers.
How are inhalants used?
These chemicals can be used in a number of ways, depending on the preferences of the user. These chemicals may be inhaled directly from their containers, called sniffing, or from rags soaked in the chemical, called huffing. Some may spray the chemical directly in the nose, mouth, sleeves, cuffs and collars and sniff at it at intervals. Bagging is where the user inhales fumes from the chemical from a small plastic or paper bagging. This is very risky and may be fatal due to suffocation and cutting of completely from oxygen.
Whichever form of using and whichever chemical used, it is very dangerous and toxic to the body and mind and is best kept away for good.
