GASES, GLUES AND AEROSOLS
Solvents cover a huge number of substances:
Gas lighter refills, aerosols containing hairspray, deodorants and air fresheners, tins or tubes of glue, some paints, thinners and correcting fluids, cleaning fluids, surgical spirit, dry-cleaning fluids and petroleum products
When inhaled, solvents have a similar effect to alcohol. They make people feel uninhibited, euphoric and dizzy.
ID: Gases, Aerosols, Glue, Thinners, Volatile Substances
Appearance and use
All sorts of famous household names. Each contain different substances with different effects.
Solvents are sniffed from a cloth, a sleeve or a plastic bag. Some users put a plastic bag over their heads and inhale that way. Gas products can be squirted directly into the back of the throat which makes it difficult to control the dose.
Most users are between 11 and 16.
Cost
A couple of £'s will buy a solvent.
Purity
Sniffing solvents isn't for anyone whose body is a temple. There's all sorts of chemical muck involved. It all depends on what's being sniffed.
The effects
- Users say it's like being drunk with dizziness, dreaminess and fits of the giggles. It can be difficult to think straight.
- The hit is quite short so users tend to keep repeating the dose to keep the feeling going.
- Depending on what's being inhaled, some users can hallucinate. This can last for up to 45 minutes.
- It can give users a 'hangover' afterwards, giving them the mother of all headaches and making them sleepy.
- Depending on the substance, it can give users a red rash around their mouths
Chances of getting hooked
There's no evidence that inhaling solvents can make a user physically dependent although a tolerance can build up within 2-3 days of continual use. It is possible to be psychologically dependent.
The risks
- At best, you risk nausea, vomiting and blackouts.
- At worst, you risk fatal heart problems which have been known to kill users the very first time they sniff.
- Squirting gas products down the throat is a particularly dangerous way of taking the drug. It can make your throat swell so you can't breathe and make your heart slow to a dangerously low level.
- You risk suffocation if you inhale from a plastic bag over your head.
- Sniffing can seriously affect your judgement and when you're high, there's a very real danger you'll try something reckless.
- Long-term abuse of solvents has been shown to damage the brain, liver and kidneys.
- It can be hard to get the amount right. Just enough will give the desired high, just a little too much can result in coma.
- Solvent abuse killed 64 people in 2000. A quarter of these were people under 18.
- Using solvents in combination with alcohol can lead to an increased risk of death.
The law
Solvent misuse isn't illegal. It is illegal in England and Wales for shopkeepers to sell you intoxicating substances if they think you are likely to be inhaling them. In Scotland the law is different but the effect is similar. Under Scottish law you can be prosecuted for 'recklessly' selling substances to any age group if you suspect they're going to inhale them.
Since October 1999, the law makes it an offence to supply gas lighter refills to anyone under the age of 18. This law applies to the whole of the UK.
Fact: A drug conviction could stand between you and your ideal job.
