Brenda Salazar, Adriana Ruelas, Jacqueline Rubalcava Inhalants Brenda Salazar, Adriana Ruelas, Jacqueline Rubalcava

What are Inhalants? Substances whose fumes are sniffed and inhaled to achieve a mid-altering effect. Inhalants is a depressant.

Slang names Whippets Snot balls Huff Hippie crack Satan’s secret Aroma of men Toilet water

Short term effects Slurred speech Drunk, dizzy or dazed Inability to coordinate movements Severe headaches Rashes around the nose and mouth

Long term effects Muscle weakness Depression Lack of coordination Hearing loss Death from heart failure of asphyxiation

Methods of use Inhalants can be breathed in through the nose or mouth in a variety of ways such as: “sniffing” or “snorting” fumes from containers Spraying aerosols directly into the nose or mouth “bagging” sniffing or inhaling fumes from substances sprayed or deposited inside a plastic or paper bag “huffing” from an inhalant soaked rag stuffed into the mouth Inhaling from balloons filled with nitrous oxide

Signs of addiction An inhalants abuser may have paint on his face, he or she may smell of solvents, he may leave behind bags impregnated with gases.

Withdrawal symptoms and treatment options Individual therapy Group therapy Family therapy Relapse prevention instruction Recreation therapy Nausea Excessive sweating Muscles cramps Headaches Shaking and hallucinations

Statistics Over 2.6 million children, aged 12-17, use an inhalant each year to get high Inhalants tend to be the drug that is tried first by children Inhalants are the fourth most-abused substance after alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana

Sources www.drugabuse.gov www.narconon.org/inhalent-signs-symptoms http://www.teenhealth.org http://www.teens.drugabuse.gov