Is Your Kid Huffing and Sniffing and Bagging After School? 1,400 Household Products on Your Kid's Inhalant "How to Get High" Shopping List

Do you know what your kid is doing from 3:00 pm to 6:0 pm? If your kid is between 12 and 15 years old, chances are your sunshine is sniffing, chroming, huffing, bagging, dusting, glading or glueing after school, in other words, inhaling household products to get "high."

Among commonly abused inhalation products your kid is abusing are gasoline, lighter fluid, correction fluid, paint thinner and paint remover, nail polish remover, hair spray, air freshener, deodorant, any cleaning agent you can think of, and yes, cooking spray and whipped cream as well. All in all, 1,400 household products are on your kid's "high" shopping list.

You better get familiar with the glossary. When huffing, your child is stuffing into the mouth chemically soaked cloth or holding it to the face thus inhaling the product. When bagging, your child is spraying the product into the bag and then inhaling it. And when sniffing, your child discharges fumes into the can and then inhales from it. Your child is gluing when inhaling or sniffing glue.

According to inhalant.org, over 2.6 million kids between 12 and 17 years old are using inhalation products to get high each year in the United States alone. And the Partnership for Drug Free America is reporting that 22% of 6th and 8th graders admitted abusing inhalants.

Sadly, too often inhalant shopping is not even necessary. The inhalant is within the reach of your kid, right in your home, in your basement, or in your garage, or right there under your kitchen or bathroom sink.

Among the most common inhalant street names are Discorama, Highball, Bullet and Bullet bolt, Hippie crack, Heart-on, Poor man's pot, Moon gas and Medusa.

Inhalants are very dangerous. If abused, they might damage brain, nerves and muscles, as well as kidneys, liver and bone marrow. Learning disabilities and loss of hearing or vision are not uncommon with huffing and sniffing. Inhalants can also lead to uncontrollable shaking, vomiting, spasms, choking, seizures, numbness in legs and hands and loss of consciousness. The effects of inhalants are immediate.

With long-term inhalant abuse, the brain damage is more severe as compared with long-term cocaine abuse.

More, inhalants can be even deadly. Huffing and sniffing can kill, even when done for the very first time. With Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome, your teen's heartbeat can first become irregular and then it stops. Death occurs in only a few minutes. Some of the most dangerous products are the ones that contain butane, acetone, propane, methanol, amyl nitrite and butyl nitrite.

Among the warning signs of huffing and sniffing are chemical smell and paint stains, runny and red nose and eyes, nose bleeds, unsteady walk, dazed appearance, anxiety, coordination problems and slurred speech.

You better know where your child is, especially after school. And talk to your kid about the dangers of inhalant abuse. Educate yourself and the kid about this dangerous practice. Too often, kids believe that huffing and sniffing and bagging are easy "highs," harmless and safe.

Source: inhalant.org
Partnership for Drug Free America