Editing Inhalant (section)

==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.

* [[Hydrocarbon poisoning]]
** Gases
*** [[Butane]]
*** [[Propane]]
** Solvents
*** [[Gasoline]]/[[petrol]]
*** [[Toluene]]
** Liquid/gas mixtures
*** [[Freon]]
* Ketones
** Solvents
*** [[Acetone]]

===Solvents===
{{Gallery
|title=Solvents
|width=160 | height=170
|align=center
|footer=Example 1
|File:USMC-07664.jpg 
 |A range of petroleum-based products that can be used as inhalants.
|File:Sanford king size.jpg
 |[[Permanent marker]]s have the potential to be inhalants
|File:Nail polish drop.jpg
 |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.
}}

A wide range of volatile [[solvents]] intended for household or industrial use are inhaled as [[recreational drugs]]. This includes [[petroleum product]]s (gasoline and [[kerosene]]), [[toluene]] (used in [[paint thinner]], [[permanent markers]], [[contact cement]] and model glue), and [[acetone]] (used in [[nail polish remover]]). These solvents vaporize at room temperature.

[[File:Filmas "Džimlai rūdi rallallā" uzņemšana Ministru kabinetā (8650399785).jpg|thumb|Whiteboard marker on a clapperboard.]]

Until the early 1990s, the most common solvents that were used for the ink in [[permanent marker]]s were [[toluene]] and [[xylene]]. These two substances are both harmful<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/MMG/MMGDetails.aspx?mmgid=157&toxid=29|title=Toluene &#124; Medical Management Guidelines &#124; Toxic Substance Portal &#124; ATSDR|website=wwwn.cdc.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://healthfully.com/harmful-effects-of-xylene-4564845.html|title=Healthfully|website=Healthfully}}</ref> 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 [[cresol]]s).

Organochlorine solvents are particularly hazardous; many of these are now restricted in developed countries due to their environmental impact.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jayaraj |first=Ravindran |last2=Megha |first2=Pankajshan |last3=Sreedev |first3=Puthur |date=2016-12-01 |title=Review Article. Organochlorine pesticides, their toxic effects on living organisms and their fate in the environment |url=https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.1515/intox-2016-0012 |journal=Interdisciplinary Toxicology |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3-4 |pages=90–100 |doi=10.1515/intox-2016-0012 |issn=1337-9569 |pmc=5464684 |pmid=28652852}}</ref>

====Legality====

[[File:Contact-cement 000000.jpg|thumb|upright=.75|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.<ref>SCCR p 492{{full citation needed|date=January 2020}}</ref> 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.<ref name="talktofrank.com"/> 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.<ref name="nationaltasc.org"/>

====Gasoline====
Gasoline sniffing can cause [[lead poisoning]],<ref name="pmid7139470">{{cite journal |author=Ross CA |title=Gasoline sniffing and lead encephalopathy |journal=Can Med Assoc J |volume=127 |issue=12 |pages=1195–7 |date=December 1982 |pmid=7139470 |pmc=1874752}}</ref> in locations where [[Banning of leaded petrol|leaded gas is not banned]].

====Toluene====
[[Toluene]] can damage [[myelin]].<ref name="pmid14748556">{{cite journal |vauthors=Filley CM, Halliday W, Kleinschmidt-DeMasters BK |title=The effects of toluene on the central nervous system |journal=J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol. |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |date=January 2004 |pmid=14748556 |doi=10.1093/jnen/63.1.1 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Gases===
[[Image:canned-air.jpg|thumb|right|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 [[chlorofluorocarbon]]s 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====

"New Jersey... prohibits selling or offering to sell minors products containing chlorofluorocarbon that is used in refrigerant."<ref name="Inhalants: Legal consequences">{{Cite web |title=Controlled Substances " Inhalants: Legal consequences |url=http://ecstasy.com.ua/inhalants/inhalants-legal-consequences |website=ecstasy.com.ua |access-date=30 July 2014 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808044417/http://ecstasy.com.ua/inhalants/inhalants-legal-consequences |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===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.<ref>[https://nationaltasc.org/inhalants-abuse/ National Inhalant Prevention Coalition]. Inhalants.org. Retrieved 12 December 2010.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0376-8716(98)00139-2 |title=Deaths associated with inhalant abuse in Virginia from 1987 to 1996 |year=1999 |last1=Bowen |first1=Scott E |last2=Daniel |first2=Jack |last3=Balster |first3=Robert L |journal=Drug and Alcohol Dependence |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=239–45 |pmid=10080050}}</ref>

====Chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy====
{{main|Chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy}}

Chronic solvent-induced [[encephalopathy]] (CSE) is a condition induced by long-term exposure to organic [[solvent]]s, often&mdash;but not always&mdash;in the workplace, that lead to a wide variety of persisting sensorimotor [[polyneuropathies]] and neurobehavioral deficits even after solvent exposure has been removed.<ref name=Laan>{{cite journal|last=van der Laan|first=Gert|author2=Markku Sainio|title=Chronic Solvent induced Encephalopathy: A step Forward|journal=NeuroToxicology|year=2012|doi=10.1016/j.neuro.2012.04.012|pmid=22560998|volume=33|issue=4|pages=897–901|bibcode=2012NeuTx..33..897V }}</ref><ref name="Bast-Pettersen">{{cite journal|last1=Bast-Pettersen|first1=Rita|title=The neuropsychological diagnosis of chronic solvent induced encephalopathy (CSE)—A reanalysis of neuropsychological test results in a group of CSE patients diagnosed 20 years ago, based on comparisons with matched controls|journal=NeuroToxicology|date=November 2009|volume=30|issue=6|pages=1195–1201|doi=10.1016/j.neuro.2009.04.008|pmid=19422849|bibcode=2009NeuTx..30.1195B }}</ref><ref name="BakerLetz">{{cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=EL|last2=Letz|first2=RE|last3=Eisen|first3=EA|last4=Pothier|first4=LJ|last5=Plantamura|first5=DL|last6=Larson|first6=M|last7=Wolford|first7=R|title=Neurobehavioral effects of solvents in construction painters.|journal=Journal of Occupational Medicine|date=February 1988|volume=30|issue=2|pages=116–23|pmid=3351646}}</ref>

====Sudden sniffing death syndrome====
Sudden sniffing death syndrome, first described by [[Millard Bass]] in 1970,<ref>{{cite web |title=Hydrocarbon Inhalation Injury: Practice Essentials, Pathophysiology, Etiology |url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1005903-overview#:~:text=Sudden%20sniffing%20death%20syndrome%20was,ventricular%20dysrhythmias%20and%20sudden%20death. |access-date=4 October 2023 |date=2 September 2022}}</ref> is commonly known as SSDS.

Solvents have many potential risks in common, including pneumonia, [[cardiac failure]] or arrest,<ref name="gdcada.org"/> and aspiration of vomit. The inhaling of some solvents can cause hearing loss, limb spasms, and damage to the central nervous system and brain.<ref name="gdcada.org"/> 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.<ref name="emedicine.com"/> [[Parkinsonism]] (see: [[Signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease]]) has been associated with huffing.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/ana.410350516 |title=Parkinsonism induced by solvent abuse |year=1994 |last1=Uitti |first1=Ryan J. |last2=Snow |first2=Barry J. |last3=Shinotoh |first3=Hitoshi |last4=Vingerhoets |first4=Francois J. G. |last5=Hayward |first5=Margo |last6=Hashimoto |first6=Stanley |last7=Richmond |first7=John |last8=Markey |first8=Sanford P. |last9=Markey |first9=Carol J. |journal=Annals of Neurology |volume=35 |issue=5 |pages=616–9 |pmid=8179306|s2cid=23657208 }}</ref>
[[File:Oil3.jpg|thumb|right|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.

In the short term, death from solvent use occurs most commonly from [[drowning|aspiration of vomit]] while unconscious or from a combination of [[respiratory depression]] and [[hypoxia (medical)|hypoxia]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Long-term damage from inhalant abuse|url=https://oxfordtreatment.com/substance-abuse/inhalant/|access-date=2021-02-17|website=Oxford Treatment Center}}</ref>

Inhaling [[butane]] gas can cause drowsiness, [[unconsciousness]], [[asphyxia]], and cardiac arrhythmia.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK201460/|chapter=1, Butane: Acute Exposure Guideline Levels|vauthors=((Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels)), ((Committee on Toxicology)), ((Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology)), ((Division on Earth and Life Studies)), ((National Research Council))|title=Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals: Volume 12|date=27 April 2012|access-date=1 February 2017|location=Washington (DC)|publisher=National Academies Press (US)}}</ref> 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&nbsp;°C by [[adiabatic expansion]], causing prolonged [[laryngospasm]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ramsey|first1=J.|last2=Anderson|first2=H. R.|last3=Bloor|first3=K.|last4=Flanagan|first4=R. J.|date=July 1989|title=An introduction to the practice, prevalence and chemical toxicology of volatile substance abuse|journal=Human Toxicology|volume=8|issue=4|pages=261–269|issn=0144-5952|pmid=2777265|doi=10.1177/096032718900800403|s2cid=19617950}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=D.|last2=Mirza|first2=Z.|date=1 September 2005|title=Butane encephalopathy|url= |journal=Emergency Medicine Journal|volume=22|issue=9|pages=676–677|doi=10.1136/emj.2003.014134|issn=1472-0205|pmid=16113204|pmc=1726908}}</ref>

Some inhalants can also indirectly cause sudden death by cardiac arrest, in a syndrome known as "sudden sniffing death".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588903,00.html | publisher=Fox News Channel | title='Huffing' More Popular Among 12 Year Olds Than Street Drugs | date=11 March 2010}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=2777268 |year=1989 |last1=Shepherd |first1=RT |title=Mechanism of sudden death associated with volatile substance abuse |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=287–91 |journal=Human Toxicology |doi=10.1177/096032718900800406|s2cid=35683481 }}</ref>

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 (medical)|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 [[1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane|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 freshener]]s. However, most users tend to be "... adolescents (between the ages of 12 and 17)."{{refn|1=For example, studies on inhalant use in New Zealand showed that "... most of the inhalant abusers are within the 14- to 18-year-old age group"; in the Philippines, the mean age of sniffers was 15; in Korea, a 1992 study showed "86 percent are male and are below the age of 20"; about 3/4 of Singapore inhalant users in a 1987 study were 19 or younger.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>}} In some countries, chronic, heavy inhalant use is concentrated in marginalized, impoverished communities.<ref>{{cite web
 | last = Williams
 | first = Jonas
 | title = Responding to petrol sniffing on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands: A case study
 | work = Social Justice Report 2003
 | publisher = Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
 | date = March 2004
 | url = http://www.hreoc.gov.au/Social_Justice/sjreport03/data/chap4.html
 | access-date = 27 December 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040927094057/http://www.hreoc.gov.au/Social_Justice/sjreport03/data/chap4.html |archive-date = 27 September 2004}}</ref>{{refn|1=Native children in Canada's isolated Northern Labrador community of [[Davis Inlet, Newfoundland and Labrador|Davis Inlet]] were the focus of national concern in 1993 when many were found to be sniffing gasoline. The federal 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, Newfoundland and Labrador|Natuashish]] in 2002, serious inhalant use problems have continued. Similar problems were also reported in [[Sheshatshiu, Newfoundland and Labrador|Sheshatshiu]] in 2000.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} }} 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."<ref name="autogenerated1" />

The article also states that "... high [inhalant use] rates among [[barrio]] [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanics]] 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."<ref name="autogenerated1" /> There are a wide range of social problems associated with inhalant use, such as feelings of [[Suffering|distress]], [[anxiety (mood)|anxiety]] and grief for the community; violence and damage to property; violent crime; stresses on the [[juvenile delinquency|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 (adhesive)|Dendrite]] brand and other forms of contact adhesives and rubber cement manufactured in [[Kolkata]], and [[toluene]]s in [[paint thinner]]s. 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.<ref name="cassere2010">Cassere, Di (14 November 2000). [http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/glue-loses-high-to-save-street-kid-addicts-1.53018 Glue loses high to save street-kid addicts.] ''The Independent'' (South Africa)</ref>

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.<ref name=Cottrell-Boyce>{{cite journal|last=Cottrell-Boyce|first=Joe|journal=African Journal of Drug & Alcohol Studies|year=2010|volume=9|issue=2|pages=93–102|url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajdas/article/view/64142/51938|access-date=2 December 2022|doi=10.4314/ajdas.v9i2.64142|title=The role of solvents in the lives of Kenyan street children: An ethnographic perspective|doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Cottrell-Boyce />

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 boy|"Rugby" boys]],<ref name="rugbyhuffing">{{cite news|url=http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/468093/rugby-cheap-high-citys-street-kids-first-two-parts|title='Rugby:' cheap high for city's street kids (First of two parts) |work=[[The Philippine Star]]|access-date=17 April 2013}}</ref> 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 [[bitterant]]s such as [[mustard oil]] to their Rugby line,<ref name="ecowaste">{{cite web|url=http://ecowastecoalition.blogspot.com/2013/04/government-urged-to-step-up-drive-vs_7.html|title=EcoWaste Coalition: Government Urged to Step Up Drive vs. Inhalant Abuse (Watchdog Pushes Ban on Sale to Children of Rugby, "Vulca Seal" and Allied Products)|work=[[Blogger (service)|Blogger]]|publisher=EcoWaste Coalition|access-date=17 April 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref>
{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/10826080500222792 |title=Street and working children of Delhi, India, misusing toluene: an ethnographic exploration |year=2005 |last1=Seth |first1=Rajeev |last2=Kotwal |first2=Atul |last3=Ganguly |first3=K. K. |journal=Substance Use & Misuse |volume=40 |issue=11 |pages=1659–79 |pmid=16253933|s2cid=22730800 }}</ref>

====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 [[alcoholic beverage|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 [[diethyl ether|ether]] ([[etheromania]]) was widespread in some regions of Poland, especially in [[Upper Silesia]]. Tens of thousands of people were affected by this problem.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abucewicz |first1=Monika |title=Narkomania w Polsce jako problem społeczny w perspektywie konstrukcjonistycznej Część pierwsza: okres międzywojenny |trans-title=Drug addiction in Poland as a social constructionist perspective in Part One: the period between |language=pl |journal=Alkoholizm I Narkomania |issue=3 |volume=18 |pages=79–107 |year=2005 |url=http://www.ipin.edu.pl/ain/archiwum/2005/3/t18n3_5.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011134718/http://www.ipin.edu.pl/ain/archiwum/2005/3/t18n3_5.pdf |archive-date=11 October 2010  }}</ref>

In Canada, Native children in the isolated Northern Labrador community of [[Davis Inlet, Newfoundland and Labrador|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, Newfoundland and Labrador|Natuashish]] in 2002, serious inhalant use problems have continued. Similar problems were reported in [[Sheshatshiu, Newfoundland and Labrador|Sheshatshiu]] in 2000 and also in [[Pikangikum First Nation]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/PublicationsandReports/Pikangikum/PIK_report.html|last= Lauwers|first= Bert|title= The Office of the Chief Coroner's Death Review of the Youth Suicides at the Pikangikum First Nation, 2006 – 2008|publisher= Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario|date= 1 June 2011|access-date= 2 October 2011|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120930122313/http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca//english/DeathInvestigations/office_coroner/PublicationsandReports/Pikangikum/PIK_report.html|archive-date= 30 September 2012|df= dmy-all}}</ref> In 2012, the issue once again made the news media in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-innu-kids-sniffing-gas-again-to-fight-boredom-1.1272679|title=Labrador Innu kids sniffing gas again to fight boredom|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref> 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 the 21st century. The mixture is poured onto a handkerchief and inhaled while held in one's fist.

In the US, [[Diethyl ether|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.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Brecher
 | first = Edward M.
 | title = The Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs
 | url = https://archive.org/details/licitillicitdrug00brec
 | url-access = registration
|publisher=Little, Brown, and Company
 | year= 1972
 | isbn = 0-316-15340-0}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnIOrgEACAAJ&q=google+books+model+airplanes+are+decadent|title=Model Airplanes are Decadent and Depraved: The Glue-sniffing Epidemic of the 1960s|first=Thomas|last=Aiello|date=1 July 2015|publisher=Northern Illinois University Press|via=Google Books|isbn=9780875807249}}</ref> Use of aerosol sprays became more common in the 1980s, as older propellants such as [[Chlorofluorocarbon|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 [[Inhalation|inhaling]] such substances is sometimes colloquially referred to as huffing, sniffing (or glue sniffing), dusting, or chroming.

====Australia====
{{see also|Indigenous Australian#Substance abuse}}
[[File:Gasoline for Sale in Phuket (5730235828).jpg|thumb|right|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 [[Australian Aborigines|aboriginal]] communities. Although some sources argue that sniffing was introduced by United States [[soldier|servicemen]] stationed in the nation's [[Top End]] during [[World War II]]<ref>{{cite web
 | last = Wortley
 | first = R. P.
 | title = Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Regulated Substances) Amendment Bill
 | work = Hansard – Legislative Council (South Australia)
 |date= 29 August 2006
 | url = http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/SAN/Attachments/Hansard/2006/LC/WH290806.LC.htm
 | access-date = 27 December 2006
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929121901/http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/SAN/Attachments/Hansard/2006/LC/WH290806.LC.htm |archive-date = 29 September 2007}}</ref> or through experimentation by 1940s-era [[Cobourg Peninsula]] sawmill workers,<ref>{{cite web
 |last = Brady
 |first = Maggie
 |title = Community Affairs Reference Committee Reference: Petrol sniffing in remote Aboriginal communities
 |page = 11
 |work = Official Committee Hansard (Senate)
 |date = 27 April 2006
 |url = http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S9271.pdf
 |access-date = 20 March 2006
 |url-status = dead
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060912011023/http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S9271.pdf
 |archive-date = 12 September 2006
 |df = dmy-all
}}</ref> other sources claim that inhalant abuse (such as glue inhalation) emerged in Australia in the late 1960s.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Chronic, heavy petrol sniffing appears to occur among remote, impoverished [[indigenous Australians|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.<ref>{{cite web
 | last = Williams
 | first = Jonas
 | title = Responding to petrol sniffing on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands: A case study
 | work = Social Justice Report 2003
 | publisher = Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
 | date = March 2004
 | url = http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/sj_report/sjreport03/chap4.html
 | access-date = 27 December 2006 }}</ref>

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.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> 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, Northern Territory|Darwin]] and [[Alice Springs, Northern Territory|Alice Springs]].

In 2005, the [[Government of Australia]] and [[BP]] Australia began the usage of [[Opal (fuel)|opal fuel]] in remote areas prone to petrol sniffing.<ref>{{cite report|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/Committee/clac_ctte/petrol_sniffing/submissions/sub03.pdf|title=Submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee by BP Australia Pty Ltd|publisher=Parliament of Australia|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614103002/http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/petrol_sniffing/submissions/sub03.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2007|access-date=8 June 2007}}</ref> Opal is a non-sniffable fuel (which is much less likely to cause a high) and has made a difference in some indigenous communities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Petrol sniffing|date=23 January 2019 |url=https://www.menzies.edu.au/page/Research/Indigenous_Health/Smoking_alcohol_drugs_and_other_addictive_behaviours/Petrol-sniffing/|access-date=5 August 2022|publisher=Menzies School of Health Research}}</ref>