Editing Inhalant (section)

==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 subculture|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.<ref name="Cochrane-Carroll">Raymond Cochrane, Douglas Carroll, ''Psychology and Social Issues: A Tutorial Text'', published 1991, Routledge 227 pages {{ISBN|1-85000-836-1}}</ref> 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 [[Do it yourself|DIY]] (do it yourself) credo;<ref name="Cochrane-Carroll"/> by using inexpensive household products as inhalants, punks did not have to purchase industrially manufactured liquor or beer.
[[File:GutterPunksDecaturStreet2002.jpg|thumb|right|The [[punk subculture]], in which members may live in [[squatting|squats]] or [[homelessness|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 (band)|Nirvana]], which was influenced by punk music, penned a song, "[[Dumb (Nirvana 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 (band)|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 (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 (band)|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 1968 film ''[[How Sweet It Is!]]'', Grif Henderson ([[James Garner]]), refers to him and his young son once making model aeroplanes together, but says, "...now all he wants to do is sniff the glue". 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 (film)|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 the [[David Lynch]] film ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]'', the bizarre and manipulative character played by [[Dennis Hopper]] uses a mask to inhale amyl nitrite.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Becoming film literate : the art and craft of motion pictures|last=LoBrutto, Vincent|date=2005|publisher=Praeger|isbn=0-313-08868-3|location=Westport, Connecticut|oclc=191734019}}</ref> In ''[[Little Shop of Horrors (1986 film)|Little Shop of Horrors]]'', [[Steve Martin]]'s character dies from nitrous oxide inhalation. The 1999 independent film ''[[Boys Don't Cry (1999 film)|Boys Don't Cry]]'' depicts two young low-income women inhaling [[aerosol computer cleaner]] (compressed gas) for a buzz. In ''[[The Cider House Rules (film)|The Cider House Rules]]'', [[Michael Caine]]'s character is addicted to inhaling ether vapors.

In ''[[Thirteen (2003 film)|Thirteen]]'', the main character, a teen, uses a can of aerosol computer cleaner to get high. In the action movie ''[[Shooter (2007 film)|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 (2009 film)|Samson and Delilah]]'' sniff petrol; in Samson's case, possibly causing brain damage.

In the 2004 film ''[[Taxi (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 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 (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)|''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."<ref name="Dick">Philip K. Dick: ''Minority Report'', Millennium Books, 2000 ({{ISBN|978-1-85798-947-2}}). See page 221.</ref>

The book ''[[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (book)|Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas]]'' describes how the two main characters inhale [[diethyl ether]] and [[amyl nitrite]].

===Television===
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0sVEJxVQ5Y| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/n0sVEJxVQ5Y| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|title=A Mum Hooked On Butane Gas (PART 1)| date=18 May 2010|via=YouTube|access-date=19 July 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the series ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'', [[Charlie Kelly (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 (TV series)|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.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} Since 2009, Allison has worked with drug and alcohol treatment centers in Los Angeles County.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} In the seventh episode of the fourteenth season of ''[[South Park]]'', Towelie, an anthropomorphic towel, develops an addiction to inhaling computer duster.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} In the show ''[[Squidbillies]]'', the main character Early Cuyler is often seen inhaling gas or other substances.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}