Europe, the westernmost portion of Eurasia,
is often divided into regions and subregions based on geographical,
cultural or historical factors. Since there is no universal agreement on
Europe's regional composition, the placement of individual countries
may vary based on criteria being used. For instance, the Balkans is a distinct geographical region within Europe, but individual countries may alternatively be grouped into South-eastern Europe or Southern Europe.
Regional affiliation of countries may also evolve over time. Malta was considered an island of North Africa for centuries, but is now generally considered a part of Southern Europe. The exact placement of the Caucasus has also varied since classical antiquity and is now regarded by many as a distinct region within or partly in Europe. Greenland is geographically a part of North America but has been politically and culturally associated with Northern Europe for more than a millennium. As such, several regions are often included as belonging to a Greater Europe, including Anatolia, Cyprus, the South Caucasus, Siberia, Asian Kazakhstan (the part of Kazakhstan located east of European Kazakhstan), Greenland, as well as the overseas territories of EU member states.
Groupings by compass directions are the hardest to define in Europe,
since there are a few calculations of the midpoint of Europe (among
other issues), and the pure geographical criteria of "east" and "west"
are often confused with the political meaning these words acquired
during the Cold War era.
Some typical geographical subregions of Europe include:
Note: There is no universally agreed definition for continental subregions. Depending on the source, some of the subregions, such as Central Europe or South-eastern Europe, can be listed as first-tier subregions. Some transregional countries, such as Romania or the United Kingdom, can be included in multiple subregions.
Europe
can be divided along many differing historical lines, normally
corresponding to those parts that were inside or outside a particular
cultural phenomenon, empire or political division. The areas varied at
different times, and so it is arguable as to which were part of some
common historical entity (e.g., were Germany or Britain part of Roman
Europe as they were only partly and relatively briefly part of the
Empire—or were the countries of the former communist Yugoslavia part of the Eastern Bloc, since it was not in the Warsaw Pact).
After Reformation: countries of Western Christianity (Catholic and Protestant Churches) and Eastern Christianity (Eastern Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Oriental Orthodox churches and the Eastern Catholic Churches)
Protestant and Catholic Europe: those parts that, in the main, left the Catholic Church during the Reformation contrasted with those that did not.
A borderless zone created by the Schengen Agreements, comprising:
Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden; in addition, by separate agreements Norway,
Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland fully apply the provisions of
the Schengen acquis.
A customs union of all the member states of the European Union (EU) and some neighbouring countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. Andorra,
San Marino, and Turkey are each in customs union with the EU's customs
territory.
A free trade agreement among the members of the Commonwealth of Independent States: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Tajikistan.
Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Montenegro, North
Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
A cultural and political alliance of four Central European
states for the purposes of furthering their European integration, as
well as for advancing military, economic and energy cooperation with one
another:
An Interreg IIIA project to establish a multinational region in
Central Europe encompassing four European countries: Slovakia, Austria,
Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
The Balkan Peninsula is located in Southeastern Europe and the
following countries and territories occupy land within the Balkans
either exclusively or partially:
The world's largest lake which forms a section of the Asian-European border has five countries occupying its shore. Iran and Turkmenistan
lie entirely within Asia while the following countries are
transcontinental and have sovereignty over the Caspian Sea's European
sector:
Blue Banana: describing the concentration of the wealth/economic productivity of Europe in a banana-shaped band running from north west England, London, through Benelux, eastern France, western Germany to northern Italy.
Inhalants are a broad range of household and industrial
chemicals whose volatile vapors or pressurized gases can be concentrated
and breathed in via the nose or mouth to produce intoxication, in a manner not intended by the manufacturer. They are inhaled at room temperature through volatilization (in the case of gasoline or acetone) or from a pressurized container (e.g., nitrous oxide or butane), and do not include drugs that are sniffed after burning or heating. For example, amyl nitrite (poppers), gasoline, nitrous oxide and toluene – a solvent widely used in contact cement, permanent markers, and certain types of glue – are considered inhalants, but smoking tobacco, cannabis, and crack cocaine are not, even though these drugs are inhaled as smoke or vapor.
While a few inhalants are prescribed by medical professionals and used for medical purposes, as in the case of inhaled anesthetics and nitrous oxide (an anxiolytic
and pain relief agent prescribed by dentists), this article focuses on
inhalant use of household and industrial propellants, glues, fuels, and
other products in a manner not intended by the manufacturer, to produce intoxication or other psychoactive effects. These products are used as recreational drugs for their intoxicating effect. According to a 1995 report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the most serious inhalant use occurs among homeless children and teenagers who "... live on the streets completely without family ties." Inhalants are the only substance used more by younger teenagers than by older teenagers. Inhalant users inhale vapor
or aerosol propellant gases using plastic bags held over the mouth or
by breathing from a solvent-soaked rag or an open container. The
practices are known colloquially as "sniffing", "huffing" or "bagging".
The effects of inhalants range from an alcohol-like intoxication and intense euphoria to vivid hallucinations,
depending on the substance and the dose. Some inhalant users are
injured due to the harmful effects of the solvents or gases or due to
other chemicals used in the products that they are inhaling. As with any
recreational drug, users can be injured due to dangerous behavior while
they are intoxicated, such as driving under the influence. In some cases, users have died from hypoxia (lack of oxygen), pneumonia, heart failure, cardiac arrest,
or aspiration of vomit. Brain damage is typically seen with chronic
long-term use of solvents as opposed to short-term exposure.
While legal when used as intended, in England, Scotland, and
Wales it is illegal to sell inhalants to persons likely to use them as
an intoxicant.
As of 2017, thirty-seven US states impose criminal penalties on some
combination of sale, possession or recreational use of various
inhalants. In 15 of these states, such laws apply only to persons under
the age of 18.
Several medical anesthetics are used as recreational drugs, including diethyl ether (a drug that is no longer used medically, due to its high flammability and the development of safer alternatives) and nitrous oxide, which is widely used in the 2010s by dentists as an anti-anxiety drug
during dental procedures. Diethyl ether has a long history of use as a
recreational drug. The effects of ether intoxication are similar to
those of alcohol
intoxication, but more potent. Also, due to NMDA antagonism, the user
may experience all the psychedelic effects present in classical
dissociatives such as ketamine
in the forms of thought loops and the feeling of the mind being
disconnected from one's body. Nitrous oxide is a dental anesthetic that
is used as a recreational drug, either by users who have access to medical-grade gas canisters (e.g., dental hygienists or dentists) or by using the gas contained in whipped cream aerosol containers. Nitrous oxide inhalation can cause pain relief, depersonalization, derealization, dizziness, euphoria, and some sound distortion.
The sale of alkyl nitrite-based
poppers was banned in Canada in 2013. Although not considered a
narcotic and not illegal to possess or use, they are considered a drug.
Sales that are not authorized can now be punished with fines and prison. Since 2007, reformulated poppers containing isopropyl nitrite
are sold in Europe because only isobutyl nitrite is prohibited. In
France, the sale of products containing butyl nitrite, pentyl nitrite,
or isomers thereof, has been prohibited since 1990 on grounds of danger
to consumers. In 2007, the government extended this prohibition to all alkyl nitrites that were not authorized for sale as drugs. After litigation by sex shop owners, this extension was quashed by the Council of State
on the grounds that the government had failed to justify such a blanket
prohibition: according to the court, the risks cited, concerning rare
accidents often following abnormal usage, rather justified compulsory
warnings on the packaging.
In the United Kingdom, poppers are widely available and frequently (legally) sold in gay clubs/bars, sex shops, drug paraphernalia head shops, over the Internet and on markets. It is illegal under Medicines Act 1968
to sell them advertised for human consumption, and to bypass this, they
are usually sold as odorizers. In the U.S., originally marketed as a
prescription drug in 1937, amyl nitrite remained so until 1960, when the
Food and Drug Administration
removed the prescription requirement due to its safety record. This
requirement was reinstated in 1969, after observation of an increase in
recreational use. Other alkyl nitrites were outlawed in the U.S. by
Congress through the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. The law includes an
exception for commercial purposes. The term commercial purpose is
defined to mean any use other than for the production of consumer
products containing volatile alkyl nitrites meant for inhaling or
otherwise introducing volatile alkyl nitrites into the human body for
euphoric or physical effects.
The law came into effect in 1990. Visits to retail outlets selling
these products reveal that some manufacturers have since reformulated
their products to abide by the regulations, through the use of the legal
cyclohexyl nitrite as the primary ingredient in their products, which are sold as video head cleaners, polish removers, or room odorants.
The
canister on the left is whipped cream, a product which is pressurized
with nitrous oxide. The two canisters on the right contain 'flavoured'
oxygen.
Nitrous oxide
can be categorized as a dissociative drug, as it can cause visual and
auditory hallucinations. Anesthetic gases used for surgery, such as
nitrous oxide or enflurane, are believed to induce anesthesia primarily by acting as NMDA receptor antagonists, open-channel blockers that bind to the inside of the calcium channels on the outer surface of the neuron, and provide high levels of NMDA receptor blockade for a short period of time.
This makes inhaled anesthetic gases different from other NMDA antagonists, such as ketamine, which bind to a regulatory site
on the NMDA-sensitive calcium transporter complex and provide slightly
lower levels of NMDA blockade, but for a longer and much more
predictable duration. This makes a deeper level of anesthesia achievable
more easily using anesthetic gases but can also make them more
dangerous than other drugs used for this purpose.
Nitrous oxide "whippets" are small aerosol containers designed for charging whipped cream dispensers.A nitrous oxide "cracker" device, for releasing the gas from whipped cream aerosol chargers.
In the United States, possession of nitrous oxide is legal under federal law and is not subject to DEA purview. It is, however, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration
under the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act; prosecution is possible under
its "misbranding" clauses, prohibiting the sale or distribution of
nitrous oxide for the purpose of human consumption as a recreational drug.
Many states have laws regulating the possession, sale, and distribution
of nitrous oxide. Such laws usually ban distribution to minors or limit
the amount of nitrous oxide that may be sold without a special license. For example, in the state of California, possession for recreational use is prohibited and qualifies as a misdemeanor. In New Zealand, the Ministry of Health
has warned that nitrous oxide is a prescription medicine, and its sale
or possession without a prescription is an offense under the Medicines
Act.
This statement would seemingly prohibit all non-medicinal uses of the
chemical, though it is implied that only recreational use will be
legally targeted. In India,
for general anesthesia purposes, nitrous oxide is available as Nitrous
Oxide IP. India's gas cylinder rules (1985) prohibit the transfer of gas
from one cylinder to another for breathing purposes. Because India's
Food & Drug Authority (FDA-India) rules state that transferring a
drug from one container to another (refilling) is equivalent to
manufacturing, anyone found doing so must possess a drug manufacturing
license.
Safety
Nitrous
oxide is thought to be particularly non-toxic, though heavy long-term
use can lead to a variety of serious health problems linked to the
destruction of vitamin B12 and folic acid.
Safety
In contrast, a few inhalants like amyl nitrite and diethyl ether
have medical applications and are not toxic in the same sense as
solvents, though they can still be dangerous when used recreationally.
Ethanol (the alcohol which is normally drunk) is sometimes inhaled.
The ethanol must be converted from liquid into gaseous state (vapor) or aerosol (mist), in some cases using a nebulizer,
a machine that agitates the liquid into an aerosol. The sale of
nebulizers for inhaling ethanol was banned in some US states due to
safety concerns.
Toxic inhalants
Most
inhalant drugs that are used non-medically are ingredients in household
or industrial chemical products that are not intended to be
concentrated and inhaled.
Common household products such as nail
polish contain solvents that can be concentrated and inhaled, in a
manner not intended by the manufacturer, to produce intoxication. Misuse
of products in this fashion can be harmful or fatal.
Contact cement, a fast-drying glue, is widely used as an inhalant, as it typically contains solvents such as toluene which vaporize at room temperature.
Even though solvent glue is normally a legal product, there is a 1983
case where a court ruled that supplying glue to children is illegal. Khaliq v HM Advocate was a Scottish criminal case decided by the High Court of Justiciary on appeal, in which it was decided that it was an offense at common law
to supply glue-sniffing materials that were otherwise legal in the
knowledge that they would be used recreationally by children. Two
shopkeepers in Glasgow
were arrested and charged for supplying children with "glue-sniffing
kits" consisting of a quantity of petroleum-based glue in a plastic bag.
They argued there was nothing illegal about the items that they had
supplied. On appeal, the High Court took the view that, even though glue
and plastic bags might be perfectly legal, everyday items, the two
shopkeepers knew perfectly well that the children were going to use the
articles as inhalants and the charge on the indictment should stand. When the case came to trial at Glasgow High Court the two were sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
As of 2023, in England, Scotland, and Wales it is illegal to sell
inhalants, including solvent glues, to persons of any age likely to use
them as an intoxicant.
As of 2017, thirty-seven US states impose criminal penalties on some
combination of sale, possession or recreational use of various
inhalants. In 15 of these states, such laws apply only to persons under
the age of 18.
Until the early 1990s, the most common solvents that were used for the ink in permanent markers were toluene and xylene. These two substances are both harmful and characterized by a very strong smell. Today, the ink is usually made on the basis of alcohols (e.g. 1-Propanol, 1-butanol, diacetone alcohol and cresols).
Organochlorine solvents are particularly hazardous; many of these
are now restricted in developed countries due to their environmental
impact.
Gases
Computer-cleaning dusters are dangerous to inhale because the gases expand and cool rapidly upon being sprayed.
A number of gases intended for household or industrial use are inhaled as recreational drugs. This includes chlorofluorocarbons used in aerosols and propellants (e.g., aerosol hair spray, aerosol deodorant). A gas used as a propellant in whipped cream aerosol containers, nitrous oxide, is used as a recreational drug. Pressurized canisters of propane and butane gas, both of which are intended for use as fuels, are used as inhalants.
Legality
Propellant gases
"New Jersey... prohibits selling or offering to sell minors products containing chlorofluorocarbon that is used in refrigerant."
Dangers
Statistics
on deaths caused by heavy inhalant use are difficult to determine. It
may be severely under-reported because death is often attributed to a
discrete event such as a stroke or a heart attack, even if the event
happened because of inhalant use. Inhalant use was mentioned on 144 death certificates in Texas
during the period 1988–1998 and was reported in 39 deaths in Virginia
between 1987 and 1996 from acute voluntary exposure to used inhalants.
Chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy (CSE) is a condition induced by long-term exposure to organic solvents, often—but not always—in the workplace, that lead to a wide variety of persisting sensorimotor polyneuropathies and neurobehavioral deficits even after solvent exposure has been removed.
Sudden sniffing death syndrome
Sudden sniffing death syndrome, first described by Millard Bass in 1970, is commonly known as SSDS.
Solvents have many potential risks in common, including pneumonia, cardiac failure or arrest,
and aspiration of vomit. The inhaling of some solvents can cause
hearing loss, limb spasms, and damage to the central nervous system and
brain.
Serious but potentially reversible effects include liver and kidney
damage and blood-oxygen depletion. Death from inhalants is generally
caused by a very high concentration of fumes. Deliberately inhaling
solvents from an attached paper or plastic bag or in a closed area
greatly increases the chances of suffocation. Brain damage is typically
seen with chronic long-term use as opposed to short-term exposure. Parkinsonism (see: Signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease) has been associated with huffing.
The middle container is cooking spray, a household product, which is used as an inhalant.
Female inhalant users who are pregnant may have adverse effects on
the fetus, and the baby may be smaller when it is born and may need
additional health care (similar to those seen with alcohol – fetal alcohol syndrome). There is some evidence of birth defects and disabilities in babies born to women who sniffed solvents such as gasoline.
Inhaling butane gas can cause drowsiness, unconsciousness, asphyxia, and cardiac arrhythmia.
Butane is the most commonly misused volatile solvent in the UK and
caused 52% of solvent-related deaths in 2000. When butane is sprayed
directly into the throat, the jet of fluid can cool rapidly to −20 °C by
adiabatic expansion, causing prolonged laryngospasm.
Some inhalants can also indirectly cause sudden death by cardiac arrest, in a syndrome known as "sudden sniffing death".
The anaesthetic gases present in the inhalants appear to sensitize the
user to adrenaline and, in this state, a sudden surge of adrenaline
(e.g., from a frightening hallucination or run-in with aggressors), may
cause fatal cardiac arrhythmia.
Furthermore, the inhalation of any gas that is capable of
displacing oxygen in the lungs (especially gases heavier than oxygen)
carries the risk of hypoxia
as a result of the very mechanism by which breathing is triggered.
Since reflexive breathing is prompted by elevated carbon dioxide levels
(rather than diminished blood oxygen levels), breathing a concentrated,
relatively inert gas (such as computer-duster tetrafluoroethane
or nitrous oxide) that removes carbon dioxide from the blood without
replacing it with oxygen will produce no outward signs of suffocation
even when the brain is experiencing hypoxia. Once full symptoms of
hypoxia appear, it may be too late to breathe without assistance,
especially if the gas is heavy enough to lodge in the lungs for extended
periods. Even completely inert gases, such as argon, can have this effect if oxygen is largely excluded.
Patterns of use
Inhalant
drugs are often used by children, teenagers, incarcerated or
institutionalized people, and impoverished people, because these
solvents and gases are ingredients in hundreds of legally available,
inexpensive products, such as deodorant sprays, hair spray, contact cement and aerosol air fresheners. However, most users tend to be "... adolescents (between the ages of 12 and 17)." In some countries, chronic, heavy inhalant use is concentrated in marginalized, impoverished communities.
Young people who become used to heavy amounts of inhalants chronically
are also more likely to be those who are isolated from their families
and community. The article "Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse: An
International Perspective" notes that "[t]he most serious form of
obsession with inhalant use probably occurs in countries other than the
United States where young children live on the streets completely
without family ties. These groups almost always use inhalants at very
high levels (Leal et al. 1978). This isolation can make it harder to
keep in touch with the sniffer and encourage him or her to stop
sniffing."
The article also states that "... high [inhalant use] rates among barrioHispanics
almost undoubtedly are related to the poverty, lack of opportunity, and
social dysfunction that occur in barrios" and states that the "... same
general tendency appears for Native-American youth" because "... Indian
reservations are among the most disadvantaged environments in the
United States; there are high rates of unemployment, little opportunity,
and high rates of alcoholism and other health problems." There are a wide range of social problems associated with inhalant use, such as feelings of distress, anxiety and grief for the community; violence and damage to property; violent crime; stresses on the juvenile justice system; and stresses on youth agencies and support services.
Africa and Asia
Glue
and gasoline (petrol) sniffing is also a problem in parts of Africa,
especially with street children. In India and South Asia, three of the
most widely used inhalants are the Dendrite brand and other forms of contact adhesives and rubber cement manufactured in Kolkata, and toluenes in paint thinners.
Genkem is a brand of glue, which had become the generic name for all
the glues used by glue-sniffing children in Africa before the
manufacturer replaced n-hexane in its ingredients in 2000.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has reported that glue sniffing is at the core of "street culture" in Nairobi, Kenya, and that the majority of street children in the city are habitual solvent users.
Research conducted by Cottrell-Boyce for the African Journal of Drug
and Alcohol Studies found that glue sniffing amongst Kenyan street
children was primarily functional – dulling the senses against the
hardship of life on the street – but it also provided a link to the
support structure of the "street family" as a potent symbol of shared
experience.
Similar incidents of glue sniffing among destitute youth in the Philippines have also been reported, most commonly from groups of street children and teenagers collectively known as "Rugby" boys,
which were named after a brand of toluene-laden contact cement. Other
toluene-containing substances have also been used, most notably the
Vulca Seal brand of roof sealants. Bostik Philippines, which currently owns the Rugby and Vulca Seal brands, has since responded to the issue by adding bitterants such as mustard oil to their Rugby line, as well as reformulating it by replacing toluene with xylene. Several other manufacturers have also followed suit.
Another very common inhalant is Erase-X, a correction fluid
that contains toluene. It has become very common for school and college
students to use it, because it is easily available in stationery shops
in India. This fluid is also used by street and working children in
Delhi.
Europe and North America
In
the UK, marginalized youth use a number of inhalants, such as solvents
and propellants. In Russia and Eastern Europe, gasoline sniffing became
common on Russian ships following attempts to limit the supply of alcohol to ship crews in the 1980s. The documentary Children Underground depicts the huffing of a solvent called Aurolac (a product used in chroming) by Romanian homeless children. During the interwar period, the inhalation of ether (etheromania) was widespread in some regions of Poland, especially in Upper Silesia. Tens of thousands of people were affected by this problem.
In Canada, Native children in the isolated Northern Labrador community of Davis Inlet were the focus of national concern in 1993, when many were found to be sniffing gasoline. The Canadian and provincial Newfoundland and Labrador
governments intervened on a number of occasions, sending many children
away for treatment. Despite being moved to the new community of Natuashish in 2002, serious inhalant use problems have continued. Similar problems were reported in Sheshatshiu in 2000 and also in Pikangikum First Nation. In 2012, the issue once again made the news media in Canada.
In Mexico, the inhaling of a mixture of gasoline and industrial
solvents, known locally as "Activo" or "Chemo", has risen in popularity
among the homeless and among the street children of Mexico City in recent years. The mixture is poured onto a handkerchief and inhaled while held in one's fist.
In the US, ether was used as a recreational drug during the 1930s Prohibition era,
when alcohol was made illegal. Ether was either sniffed or drunk and,
in some towns, replaced alcohol entirely. However, the risk of death
from excessive sedation or overdose is greater than that with alcohol,
and ether drinking is associated with damage to the stomach and
gastrointestinal tract.
Use of glue, paint and gasoline became more common after the 1950s.
Model airplane glue-sniffing as problematic behavior among youth was
first reported in 1959 and increased in the 1960s. Use of aerosol sprays became more common in the 1980s, as older propellants such as CFCs were phased out and replaced by more environmentally friendly compounds such as propane and butane. Most inhalant solvents and gases are not regulated under drug laws such as the United States Controlled Substances Act.
However, many US states and Canadian cities have placed restrictions on
the sale of some solvent-containing products to minors, particularly
for products widely associated with sniffing, such as model cement. The practice of inhaling such substances is sometimes colloquially referred to as huffing, sniffing (or glue sniffing), dusting, or chroming.
Gasoline (also known as petrol) is used as an inhalant in impoverished communities.
Australia has long faced a petrol (gasoline) sniffing problem in isolated and impoverished aboriginal communities. Although some sources argue that sniffing was introduced by United States servicemen stationed in the nation's Top End during World War II or through experimentation by 1940s-era Cobourg Peninsula sawmill workers, other sources claim that inhalant abuse (such as glue inhalation) emerged in Australia in the late 1960s. Chronic, heavy petrol sniffing appears to occur among remote, impoverished indigenous communities, where the ready accessibility of petrol has helped to make it a common addictive substance.
In Australia, petrol sniffing now occurs widely throughout remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, northern parts of South Australia, and Queensland.
The number of people sniffing petrol goes up and down over time as
young people experiment or sniff occasionally. "Boss", or chronic,
sniffers may move in and out of communities; they are often responsible
for encouraging young people to take it up.
A 1983 survey of 4,165 secondary students in New South Wales
showed that solvents and aerosols ranked just after analgesics (e.g.,
codeine pills) and alcohol for drugs that were inappropriately used.
This 1983 study did not find any common usage patterns or social class
factors.
The causes of death for inhalant users in Australia included pneumonia,
cardiac failure/arrest, aspiration of vomit, and burns. In 1985, there
were 14 communities in Central Australia reporting young people
sniffing. In July 1997, it was estimated that there were around 200
young people sniffing petrol across 10 communities in Central Australia.
Approximately 40 were classified as chronic sniffers. There have been
reports of young Aboriginal people sniffing petrol in the urban areas
around Darwin and Alice Springs.
In 2005, the Government of Australia and BP Australia began the usage of opal fuel in remote areas prone to petrol sniffing.
Opal is a non-sniffable fuel (which is much less likely to cause a
high) and has made a difference in some indigenous communities.
Administration and effects
Inhalant
users inhale vapors or aerosol propellant gases using plastic bags held
over the mouth or by breathing from an open container of solvents, such
as gasoline or paint thinner. Nitrous oxide gases from whipped cream
aerosol cans, aerosol hairspray or non-stick frying spray are sprayed
into plastic bags. Some nitrous oxide users spray the gas into balloons.
When inhaling non-stick cooking spray or other aerosol products, some
users may filter the aerosolized particles out with a rag. Some gases,
such as propane and butane gases, are inhaled directly from the
canister. Once these solvents or gases are inhaled, the extensive
capillary surface of the lungs
rapidly absorbs the solvent or gas, and blood levels peak rapidly. The
intoxication effects occur so quickly that the effects of inhalation can
resemble the intensity of effects produced by intravenous injection of
other psychoactive drugs.
Ethanol is also inhaled, either by vaporizing it by pouring it over dry ice
in a narrow container and inhaling with a straw or by pouring alcohol
in a corked bottle with a pipe, and then using a bicycle pump to make a spray. Alcohol can be vaporized using a simple container and open-flame heater.
Medical devices such as asthma nebulizers and inhalers were also
reported as a means of application. The practice gained popularity in
2004, with the marketing of the device dubbed AWOL (Alcohol without
liquid), a play on the military term AWOL (Absent Without Leave). AWOL, created by British businessman Dominic Simler,
was first introduced in Asia and Europe, and then in the United States
in August 2004. AWOL was used by nightclubs, at gatherings and parties,
and it garnered attraction as a novelty, as people 'enjoyed passing it around in a group'. AWOL uses a nebulizer, a machine that agitates the liquid into an aerosol. AWOL's official website states that "AWOL and AWOL 1 are powered by Electrical Air Compressors while AWOL 2 and AWOL 3 are powered by electrical oxygen generators",
which refer to a couple of mechanisms used by the nebulizer drug
delivery device for inhalation. Although the AWOL machine is marketed as
having no downsides, such as the lack of calories or hangovers, Amanda
Shaffer of Slate describes these claims as "dubious at best". Although inhaled alcohol does reduce the caloric content, the savings are minimal. After expressed safety and health concerns, sale or use of AWOL machines was banned in a number of American states.
The effects of solvent
intoxication can vary widely depending on the dose and what type of
solvent or gas is inhaled. A person who has inhaled a small amount of
rubber cement or paint thinner vapor may be impaired in a manner
resembling alcohol inebriation. A person who has inhaled a larger
quantity of solvents or gases, or a stronger chemical, may experience
stronger effects such as distortion in perceptions of time and space, hallucinations,
and emotional disturbances. The effects of inhalant use are also
modified by the combined use of inhalants and alcohol or other drugs.
In the short term, many users experience headaches, nausea and vomiting, slurred speech, loss of motor coordination,
and wheezing. A characteristic "glue sniffer's rash" around the nose
and mouth is sometimes seen after prolonged use. An odor of paint or
solvents on clothes, skin, and breath is sometimes a sign of inhalant
abuse, and paint or solvent residues can sometimes emerge in sweat.
According to NIH, even a single session of inhalant use "can
disrupt heart rhythms and lower oxygen levels", which can lead to death.
"Regular abuse can result in serious harm to the brain, heart, kidneys,
and liver."
General risks
Many inhalants are volatile organic chemicals
and can catch fire or explode, especially when combined with smoking.
As with many other drugs, users may also injure themselves due to loss
of coordination or impaired judgment, especially if they attempt to
operate machinery.
Hypoxia
All commonly abused inhalants act as asphyxiant gases, although a common myth is that their primary effects are only due to oxygen deprivation. In reality, the majority of abused inhalants still exhibit psychoactive effects, although oxygen deprivation does add to the notable effects.
Regardless of which inhalant is used, inhaling vapors or gases can lead to injury or death. One major risk is hypoxia
(lack of oxygen), which can occur due to inhaling fumes from a plastic
bag, or from using proper inhalation mask equipment (e.g., a medical
mask for nitrous oxide) but not adding oxygen or room air.
Frostbite
Another
danger is freezing the throat. When a gas that was stored under high
pressure is released, it cools abruptly and can cause frostbite
if it is inhaled directly from the container. This can occur, for
example, with inhaling nitrous oxide. When nitrous oxide is used as an
automotive power adder, its cooling effect is used to make the fuel-air charge denser. In a person, this effect is potentially lethal.
The second cause being especially a risk with heavier-than-air vapors such as butane
or gasoline vapor. Deaths typically occur from complications related to
excessive sedation and vomiting. Actual overdose from the drug does
occur, however, and inhaled solvent use is statistically more likely to
result in life-threatening respiratory depression than intravenous
use of opioids such as heroin. Most deaths from solvent use could be
prevented if individuals were resuscitated quickly when they stopped
breathing and their airways cleared if they vomited. However, most
inhalant use takes place when people inhale solvents by themselves or in
groups of people who are intoxicated. Certain solvents are more
hazardous than others, such as gasoline.
Use of butane, propane, nitrous oxide and other inhalants can create a risk of freezing burns
from contact with the extremely cold liquid. The risk of such contact
is greatly increased by the impaired judgement and motor coordination
brought on by inhalant intoxication.
Carbon tetrachloride can cause significant damage to multiple systems, but its association with liver damage is so strong that it is used in animal models to induce liver injury.
Toxicity may also result from the pharmacological properties of the drug; excess NMDA antagonism can completely block calcium influx into neurons and provoke cell death through apoptosis, although this is more likely to be a long-term result of chronic solvent use than a consequence of short-term use.
In popular culture
Music and musical culture
One of the early musical references to inhalant use occurs in the 1974 Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back",
in the line "I get high in the evening sniffing pots of glue." Inhalant
use, especially glue-sniffing, is widely associated with the late-1970s
punk
youth subculture in the UK and North America. Raymond Cochrane and
Douglas Carroll claim that when glue sniffing became widespread in the
late 1970s, it was "adopted by punks because public [negative]
perceptions of sniffing fitted in with their self-image" as rebels
against societal values.
While punks at first used inhalants "experimentally and as a cheap
high, adult disgust and hostility [to the practice] encouraged punks to
use glue sniffing as a way of shocking society." As well, using
inhalants was a way of expressing their anti-corporatist DIY (do it yourself) credo; by using inexpensive household products as inhalants, punks did not have to purchase industrially manufactured liquor or beer.
The punk subculture, in which members may live in squats or on the street, has been associated with "glue sniffing" since its inception.
One history of the punk subculture argues that "substance abuse was
often referred to in the music and did become synonymous with the genre,
glue-sniffing especially" because the youths' "faith in the future had
died and that the youth just didn't care anymore" due to the "awareness
of the threat of nuclear war and a pervasive sense of doom." In a BBC
interview with a person who was a punk in the late 1970s, they said that
"there was a real fear of imminent nuclear war—people
were sniffing glue knowing that it could kill them, but they didn't
care because they believed that very soon everybody would be dead
anyway."
A number of 1970s punk rock and 1980s hardcore punk songs refer to inhalant use. The Ramones, an influential early US punk band, referred to inhalant use in several of their songs. The song "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue"
describes adolescent boredom, and the song "Carbona not Glue" states,
"My brain is stuck from shooting glue." An influential punk fanzine about the subculture and music took its name (Sniffin' Glue) from the Ramones song. The 1980s punk band The Dead Milkmen wrote a song, "Life is Shit" from their album Beelzebubba, about two friends hallucinating after sniffing glue. Punk-band-turned-hip-hop group the Beastie Boys
penned a song "Hold it Now – Hit It", which includes the line "cause
I'm beer drinkin, breath stinkin, sniffing glue." Their song "Shake Your
Rump" includes the lines, "Should I have another sip no skip it/In the
back of the ride and bust with the whippits". Pop punk band Sum 41 wrote a song, "Fat Lip",
which refers to a character who does not "make sense from all the gas
you be huffing..." The song "Lança-Perfume", written and performed by
Brazilian pop star Rita Lee,
became a national hit in 1980. The song is about chloroethane and its
widespread recreational sale and use during the rise of Brazil's
carnivals.
Inhalants are referred to by bands from other genres, including several grunge bands—an early 1990s genre that was influenced by punk rock. The 1990s grunge band Nirvana, which was influenced by punk music, penned a song, "Dumb", in which Kurt Cobain sings "my heart is broke / But I have some glue / help me inhale / And mend it with you". L7,
an all-female grunge band, penned a song titled "Scrap" about a
skinhead who inhales spray-paint fumes until his mind "starts to gel".
Also in the 1990s, the Britpop band Suede had a UK hit with their song "Animal Nitrate" whose title is a thinly veiled reference to amyl nitrite. The Beck song "Fume" from his "Fresh Meat and Old Slabs" release is about inhaling nitrous oxide. Another Beck song, "Cold Ass Fashion", contains the line "O.G. – Original Gluesniffer!" Primus's 1999 song "Lacquer Head" is about adolescents who use inhalants to get high. Hip hop performer Eminem
wrote a song, "Bad Meets Evil", which refers to breathing "... ether in
three lethal amounts." The Brian Jonestown Massacre, a retro-rock band
from the 1990s, has a song, "Hyperventilation", which is about sniffing
model-airplane cement. Frank Zappa's song "Teenage Wind" from 1981 has a
reference to glue sniffing: "Nothing left to do but get out the 'ol
glue; Parents, parents; Sniff it good now..."
Films
A number of films have depicted or referred to the use of solvent inhalants. In the 1980 comedy film Airplane!, the character of McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges) refers to his inhalant use when he states, "I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue." In the 1996 film Citizen Ruth, the character Ruth (Laura Dern), a homeless drifter, is depicted inhaling patio sealant from a paper bag in an alleyway. In the tragicomedy Love Liza, the main character, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman,
plays a man who takes up building remote-controlled airplanes as a
hobby to give him an excuse to sniff the fuel in the wake of his wife's
suicide.
Harmony Korine's 1997 Gummo depicts adolescent boys inhaling contact cement for a high. Edet Belzberg's 2001 documentary Children Underground chronicles the lives of Romanian street children addicted to inhaling paint. In The Basketball Diaries,
a group of boys is huffing Carbona cleaning liquid at 3 minutes and 27
seconds into the movie; further on, a boy is reading a diary describing
the experience of sniffing the cleaning liquid.
In Thirteen, the main character, a teen, uses a can of aerosol computer cleaner to get high. In the action movie Shooter, an ex-serviceman on the run from the law (Mark Wahlberg)
inhales nitrous oxide gas from a number of Whip-It! whipped cream
canisters until he becomes unconscious. The South African film The Wooden Camera
also depicts the use of inhalants by one of the main characters, a
homeless teen, and their use in terms of socio-economic stratification.
The title characters in Samson and Delilah sniff petrol; in Samson's case, possibly causing brain damage.
In the 2004 film Taxi, Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon
are trapped in a room with a burst tank containing nitrous oxide. Queen
Latifah's character curses at Fallon while they both laugh
hysterically. Fallon's character asks if it is possible to die from
nitrous oxide, to which Queen Latifah's character responds with "It's
laughing gas, stupid!" Neither of them had any side effects other than
their voices becoming much deeper while in the room.
In the French horror film Them
(2006), a French couple living in Romania are pursued by a gang of
street children who break into their home at night. Olivia Bonamy's
character is later tortured and forced to inhale aurolac from a silver-colored bag. During a flashback scene in the 2001 film Hannibal,
Hannibal Lecter gets Mason Verger high on amyl nitrite poppers, then
convinces Verger to cut off his own face and feed it to his dogs.
Books
The science fiction story "Waterspider" by Philip K. Dick (first published in January 1964 in If
magazine) contains a scene in which characters from the future are
discussing the culture of the early 1950s. One character says: "You mean
he sniffed what they called 'airplane dope'? He was a 'glue-sniffer'?",
to which another character replies: "Hardly. That was a mania among
adolescents and did not become widespread in fact until a decade later.
No, I am speaking about imbibing alcohol."
In the comedy series Newman and Baddiel in Pieces, Rob Newman's inhaling gas from a foghorn was a running joke in the series. One episode of the Jeremy Kyle Show featured a woman with a 20-year butane gas addiction. In the series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Charlie Kelly
has an addiction to huffing glue. Additionally, season nine episode 8
shows Dennis, Mac, and Dee getting a can of gasoline to use as a
solvent, but instead end up taking turns huffing from the canister.
A 2008 episode of the reality show Intervention (season 5, episode 9) featured Allison, who was addicted to huffing computer duster for the short-lived, psychoactive effects. Allison has since achieved a small but significant cult following among bloggers and YouTube users. Several remixes of scenes from Allison's episode can be found online. Since 2009, Allison has worked with drug and alcohol treatment centers in Los Angeles County. In the seventh episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, Towelie, an anthropomorphic towel, develops an addiction to inhaling computer duster. In the show Squidbillies, the main character Early Cuyler is often seen inhaling gas or other substances.
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