Inhalants represent a relatively low drug threat, according the National Drug Threat Assessment 2005 Summary Report by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Across all age groups, use has declined since 1995, although use among eighth-graders significantly increased between 2002 and 2003.

Unlike most other abused substances, inhalants are not manufactured for illicit use. Inhalants are the chemical vapors of over 1,000 household and office products, which are produced and sold for legitimate uses. These chemical vapors produce mind-altering effects and also cause significant and irreparable bodily harm. Products that are used as inhalants fall into several general categories:

• Volatile solvents (e.g., paint thinner, correction fluid, glue, gasoline);

• Aerosols (e.g., spray deodorant, spray paint, hairspray);

• Gases (e.g., ether, chloroform, nitrous oxide); and

• Nitrites (cyclohexyl nitrite - a chemical found in such products as room deodorizers and VCR head cleaners - as well as amyl nitrite and butyl nitrite).

Immediate side effects of use can include hallucinations, delusions, dizziness, impaired judgment, and belligerence, as well as sudden sniffing death (SSD). Long-term users also experience lack of coordination, depression, disorientation, muscle weakness, weight loss, and irritability. Physical effects from sustained inhalant use include sudden death, suppressed immune system functioning, injury to red blood cells, bone marrow injury, reproductive system toxicity, changes in the heart muscle and heartbeat, cirrhosis of the liver, hearing and vision damage, brain damage, liver damage, and kidney damage.

The DOJ reports that although the inhalants pose a low threat across all age groups (in comparison to illicit substances which are illegally imported into the U.S. and distributed by criminal organizations), use of inhalants is still a great concern. Demand for inhalants is relatively high and adolescents are the typical users of inhalants.

The 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) supports the DOJ's assertion that the demand for inhalants is significant. In 2006, more people (approximately 800,000) reported past-month use of inhalants than reported past-month use of crack, ecstasy, sedatives, meth, or heroin. Approximately 783,000 people tried inhalants for the first time in 2006, and the average age for first use was low at 15.7 years - the youngest mean age for drug initiates for any drug type in 2006. By comparison, approximately 977,000 first tried cocaine in 2006, and the mean age for first use was 20.3 years.

According to the 2006 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS data is collected by the states and reported to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services administration), the percentage of people admitted to substance abuse treatment programs with a primary addiction to inhalants is extremely low. In 2005, inhalants were reported as the primary substance of abuse by 0.10% of people admitted to public substance abuse treatment programs.

By comparison, meth (the NSDUH reported 700,000 current users of meth compared to 800,000 current users of inhalants) comprised 9.0% of admissions in 2005. According to the TEDS data, one in five people admitted for inhalant use was under the age of 15. Approximately 66% of those admitted for inhalant use were non-Hispanic white males or non-Hispanic white females.