An Overview What Are Inhalants

Inhalants are a class of drugs that are familiar to all of us. They are useful chemicals in household products, and readily accessible in our homes and schools. Unlike some other abused drugs, such as cocaine, marijuana, and LSD, inhalants may be legally obtained. These chemicals have legitimate uses, and customers have, on the whole, unrestricted access to purchasing them. The ease of obtaining these products for use as drugs increases their abuse potential. 

Chemicals whose vapors or gases can be intentionally inhaled to give the user a high are called inhalants. The use of inhalants produces psychoactive or mind-altering effects on the user. Inhalants are usually solvent fluids, a category that includes thousands of diverse chemicals. A few such chemicals and products that are abused are lighter fluid, markers, spray paint, and glue. 

Inhalant abuse is also termed volatile solvent abuse. It should be noted that many drugs besides those classified as inhalants can be administered by inhalation, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl patches, and nicotine. These drugs are not volatile solvents and have different physical and chemical properties therefore, they are not classified as inhalants. Inhalants are chemicals that are volatile, meaning they can readily vaporize from 

Inhalant abuse was described as a stepchild in the war on drugs in the 1994 Research Report Series by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The report noted that the dangers of inhalant abuse were not taken as seriously by the public in the war on drugs, and not viewed in the same category of abuse as drugs such as alcohol, heroin, and cocaine. 

Although inhalant abuse is a recognized world problem, inhalants are the least characterized and least studied of all drugs of abuse. What is it about inhalants that makes them less frequently talked about, and why are they taken less seriously 

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Contents An overview what are inhalants —History of inhalant use— Properties of inhalants — How do inhalants act —Abuse of inhalants— Consequences of inhalant abuse—Trends and use of inhalants—Treatment and prevention. 

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