ABSTRACT
Inhalants are breathable chemical vapors that produce psychoactive or mind-altering effects (National Institute on Drug Abuse: NIDA, 2006). In their administration, inhalants differ from other commonly abused substances in that they are vapors that must be inhaled to have their effect. In the past, other substances that could be inhaled, such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines were grouped in the general inhalant category. Today, researchers
exclude these drugs from the definition, and restrict inhalants to include any volatile chemical substance that is deliberately inhaled, sniffed, or sprayed directly into the nose or mouth for the purpose of achieving intoxication. Inhalants can have profound physical and psychological effects. Medical consequences associated with this class of drugs are severe; furthermore, the typical inhalant user is a child or young adolescent who knows relatively little of the toxicity associated with inhalant use. e problems caused by inhalants are real, and apparently growing, in a sector of the population that is extremely vulnerable to the depredations that use of these drugs can bring about. Accordingly, in this chapter we focus primarily on the effects and treatment of inhalant use in the young. In addition, we consider treatment alternatives for inhalant users, and explore treatment strategies that may prove useful in the future.
