So you thought they were just harmless household products…

You’d be so wrong. Things like lighter gas, hairspray, deodorants, air fresheners, glue, paints and correcting fluids are pretty harmless when used for their proper purposes (though try telling that to the organic brigade).

When sniffed or inhaled, however, they're REALLY dangerous. Between 70 and 100 young people die every year from doing it - some, sadly, from their very first try. Here's why:

• squirting any of the above down your throat can cause your body to flood your lungs with a fluid that can suffocate you.
• Suffocation also results from users putting a plastic bag over their heads to get a stronger effect.
• It can cause users to pass out & then choke to death on vomit.

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• When high on it stuff like climbing on roofs, running across train tracks and jumping off high walls can suddenly seem like a very good idea - so add a strong risk of serious accidents, too.
• Even short-term use can cause memory loss, poor concentration & a very attractive facial rash. Carry on doing it and you could get major liver, kidney, heart or brain damage.

Sniffing/inhaling may be just a seedy passing phase for younger kids but they could well die before they're over it.

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Fact from history

The Victorians used to advertise laughing gas nights at the theatre – you could pay to watch sniffers giggling, falling over and fighting. Nowadays we just have Jerry Springer...

Amazing but true

Many sniffers end up in hospital not only because of the poisonous fumes, but because they set fire to themselves – solvents are very flammable