Drug Trends: Huffing: the Popular Employment of Household Inhalants

Huffing is the inhalant use of the vapors and gases found in common household solvents and propellants in order to experience a psychoactive reaction. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2005), surveys show that 22.9 million Americans have abused inhalants at least once in their lives, and at least three percent of Americans have done so by the fourth grade. As the substances found around the household employed for inhalant use are often inexpensive and readily accessible, many who abuse them are the young, the poor and the incarcerated (Joseph, 2005). According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (2008), there are these inhalants can be grouped into four categories- volatile solvents (liquids that vaporize at room temperature), aerosols, gases and nitrates.

Volatile solvents "include paint thinners and removers, dry-cleaning fluids, degreasers, gasoline, glues, correction fluids and felt-tipped markers" (NIDA, 2005). Aerosols include any items contained within aerosol packaging, including but not limited to hairspray and spray deodorant. The "gases" category contains both gases used for medical anesthesia (such as chloroform, halothane and nitrous oxide), as well as gases found in common household items (including nitrous oxide found in whipped cream cans, butane lighters and refrigerants) (NIDA, 2005). Finally, the nitrate category encompasses those items known as amyl nitrates or "poppers".