Some common ones are butane (lighter and aerosol gas), some glues, nail varnish/ remover and petrol.
If you use volatile substances they can make you:
Feel light headed
Feel a false sense of confidence
Laugh a lot (often at things which aren’t that funny)
Say things you wouldn’t normally
Become over friendly and too trusting of others
Become stupid and silly
Feel sick and throw up
Have double vision
Lose your balance and make you unsteady on your feet
Cry and get upset
Feel over sensitive to harmless comments
Make a fool of yourself
Fall asleep and pass out
Become depressed
Become aggressive
Become angry
Become violent
Have an accident e.g. get run over, fall over and hurt yourself
Have a hangover (this is rare)
See and hear things that aren’t there (hallucinate)
Volatile Substances (known as VS) are the collective name for chemicals that can be inhaled to get high.
There are hundreds of different types of VS.
They come as liquids or gases that give off fumes.
The sale of lighter refi ll (butane) gas and some glues is illegal to under 18’s. Shop keepers can also refuse to sell to anyone they believe will misuse the product(s).
When VS are used for the purpose they are intended, such as deodorant to make you smell nice, they are pretty safe. When they are misused or used to try and get high the following can happen:
Butane (the gas in aerosols) makes the heart more sensitive to adrenalin. If your body releases adrenalin (and this can happen with as little as moving around) it can stop it working at all. This is known as Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome.
It can cause fatal accidents as it can make people do things they wouldn’t usually do and make them unsteady on their feet.
VS kill more people under the age of 18 than any other drug. They also kill more first time and experimental users than any other drug. It doesn’t matter how many times you have used, each time is as risky.
