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Inhalants

DIFFERENT TYPES OF INHALANTS

Photo credit: iStockphoto
Photo credit: iStockphoto

Inhalants can be categorized into four different types:

LIQUIDS that vaporize at room temperatures. These are found in numerous easily available household and industrial products including paint thinners, degreasers, gasoline, glues, correction fluids and felt-tip marker fluids.

SPRAYS such as spray paints, deodorant and hair sprays, vegetable oil sprays for cooking and fabric protector sprays.

GASES including medical anesthetics (ether, chloroform and nitrous oxide, commonly called “laughing gas”), butane lighters, propane tanks, whipped cream dispensers and refrigerants.

NITRITES (a chemical compound found in food preservatives, leather cleaner, room deodorizers, etc.) are considered a special class of inhalants which act directly on the central nervous system, brain and spinal cord. They are used mainly as sexual enhancers and are commonly known as “poppers” or “snappers.”

“For three days, a friend gave me glue free of cost. On the fourth day he asked for money from me. By then, I was addicted and I had to give him money to get a tube of glue. I needed several tubes of glue daily.” —Marty