Solvents (Volatile substances)
Slang
Gases, Aerosols, Glue, Thinners, Volatile substances, sniff, various brand names.
Description
Compounds producing depressant effects similar to alcohol or anaesthetics when their vapours are inhaled.
Solvents cover a huge number of substances: Gas lighter refills, aerosols containing hairspray, deodorants and air fresheners, tins or tubes of glue, some paints, thinners and correcting fluids, cleaning fluids, surgical spirit, dry-cleaning fluids and petroleum products. When inhaled, solvents have a similar effect to alcohol. They make people feel uninhibited, euphoric and dizzy. Solvents are sniffed from a cloth, a sleeve or a plastic bag. Some users put a plastic bag over their heads and inhale that way.
Paraphernalia / what to look out for
- Large quantities of solvents, plastic bags or materials soaked in solvents, broken aerosol containers.
- Glue containers.
- Towels or clothes with aerosol residue or stains.
- Possibly lots of empty or broken lighters.
- Teeth marks on the nozzles of aerosols cans.
Possible short-term indicators
- Light-headedness; effects similar to alcohol intoxication (slurred speech / loss of balance / giggles / have a distorted perception of reality / and can have headaches).
- Some users experience hallucinations.
- It can give users a 'hangover' afterwards, giving them a bad headaches and making them sleepy.
- Sleep can be disturbed and appetite reduced; user can feel tired, lack concentration, feel confused, nauseous, and get headaches.
- Repeated or deep inhalation can result in an overdose.
- Some products can make the heart more sensitive and can result in heart failure if the sniffer exerts themselves.
- Of the small number of deaths per year, most deaths linked to behaviour whilst intoxicated; danger of suffocation from plastic bags, from throat inflammation as a result of spraying lighter fuel/aerosols into the mouth or from choking on own vomit, whilst unconscious.
Possible longer-term indicators
- Short-term memory loss.
- Spots and sores on the face.
- Increased risk of heart failure.
Harm reduction
- Don't put a plastic bag over your head.
- Don't squirt lighter-fuel aerosols straight into your mouth.
Legal status
- Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act (1985). Illegal for a retailer to supply to persons under 18 years of age a substance (other than a controlled drug) 'If he knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the substance is or its fumes are likely to be inhaled for the purpose of causing intoxication'.
- Solvents have been deemed to be 'drugs' in the offence of being in charge of a vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs.
- It is possible for users to be charged under public order offences for dealing with unruly, offensive, alarming or intoxicating behaviour.