Household products abuse

A wide variety of chemical products that give off fumes are inhaled for their psychoactive effects. Many inhalants are chemicals that are found in household products, such as cleaning solvents and aerosols. Since the chemicals are cheap and easily available, this kind of drug abuse is popular with some kids as young as seven, many of whom are not aware that even one use can be deadly. 

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. 

Figure 3.1 Common household products, such as the ones pictured here, can be abused as inhalants. These products, including aerosol room deodorizers, cleansers, lighter fluid, correction fluid, and nail polish, emit vapors that, when inhaled, can intoxicate an individual. 

Most abused inhalants are legally sold products that are not intended to be inhaled and abused. In contrast to illicit drugs, there is little or no criminal involvement with the supply and possession of inhalants. Because these products are all safe when used for their intended purposes, it is impossible to control inhalant abuse by eliminating the availability of inhalants. Bulk supplies of acetone, diethyl ether, and toluene are under international control, but this does not affect the availability of the household products containing these chemicals. 

Most of the common household and commercial products abused as inhalants are not regulated under the Controlled Substances Act or any other national law in the United States. As a result, many state legislatures have attempted to deter youths from abusing them by placing restrictions on their sale to minors. During the 1990s, 38 states adopted laws preventing the sale, use, and/or distribution of various products commonly abused as inhalants to minors to... 

Figure 8.3 Education is one way to discourage inhalant use and abuse. These campaigns have been shown to decrease inhalant use by raising awareness of the risks involved with abusing inhalants. Posters, such as this one, educate both parents and adolescents about the fact that common household products can have dangerous effects.

The abuse of a wide range of volatile chemicals (often called inhalants) that may be inhaled accidentally or intentionally is a worldwide problem, particularly in the adolescent population. There are more than 1000 ordinary relatively inexpensive household products that may be abused via inhalation. VOCs such as toluene, chloroform, butane, propane and acetone are present in many commercial products (solvents, contact adhesives, correction fluid,... 

INHALANTS Legal household, industrial, medical, and office products that are volatile (vaporize or evaporate easily), producing chemical vapors. Abusers inhale concentrated amounts of these vapors, by various means, to alter their consciousness. 

Inhalants are the only abused substance classified solely by their means of administration—abusers take them by breathing in vapors from volatile substances. Thus, researchers must try to characterize a wide variety of substances and chemicals found in hundreds of common household, industrial, commercial, and medical products that can be inhaled to produce a psychoactive effect."... 

Many household and commercial neurotoxic products are intentionally inhaled for recreational purposes. The volatile solvents contained in these products are rapidly absorbed and carried to the brain, producing a feeling of euphoria. The practice, also known as glue sniffing or huffing, is widespread among adolescents and has resulted in numerous permanent neurological injuries and deaths when excessive quantities of neurotoxic solvents have been absorbed. 109 110 Table 18.5 lists volatile chemicals that are frequently abused by intentional inhalation and the products that contain these compounds. 

When considering the total cost of drugs and their impact on society, it is necessary to consider more than just the money spent on the drugs themselves. The NIDA/NIAAA estimate includes substance abuse treatment and prevention costs as well as other health care costs, costs associated with reduced job productivity or lost earnings, and other costs to society such as crime and social welfare. The study also determined that these costs are borne primarily by governments (46 percent), followed by those who abuse drugs and members of their households (44 percent). 

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