Inhalants
Volatile solvents, aerosols, gases, and alkyl nitrites (poppers). The most overlooked substance class in the field.
Latest reporting
She Spent $300 to $400 a Day on a Whipped-Cream Gas. We Still Sell It Like That.
Nitrous oxide deaths rose 578% from 2010 to 2023. A sister's account of Meg Caldwell, 29, shows what the numbers hide.
Laughing Gas Is Killing More People Than Ever, and Treating It as a Joke Is Why
Nitrous oxide deaths rose from 23 in 2010 to 156 in 2023, a 578% increase, per JAMA Network Open. The 'hippy crack' framing is why the nerve damage and deaths are being ignored.
The Treatment System Never Learned to Ask About Poppers
Inhalants are the most neglected substance class in addiction care, and poppers — still tangled in a debunked 1980s AIDS myth RFK Jr. just revived — show exactly what that neglect costs.
Through eight lenses
Science
Solvents act as NMDA antagonists + GABA modulators; nitrites as smooth-muscle relaxants via NO; aerosols variable.
Biology
Sudden sniffing death syndrome (cardiac sensitization to catecholamines), hypoxia, leukoencephalopathy (toluene), hepatorenal toxicity.
Psychology
Typically first-used age 9–13, often precedes other substance use; associated with ACEs.
She Spent $300 to $400 a Day on a Whipped-Cream Gas. We Still Sell It Like That.
Oct 16Nobody Told Claudia Dimit's Son That a Can of Computer Duster Could Kill Him. The Label Still Doesn't.
Aug 27She Died From a Can of Computer Cleaner. Arizona's Fix Is a Felony Charge — for the Next Buyer, Not the Can.
Jul 8
Policy
Mostly not controlled (volatile solvents legal); age-of-sale laws for specific products; poppers under ambiguous FDA status.
Trends
SAMHSA NSDUH tracks; resurgence concerns in some regions.
Treatment
Abstinence-based (no meds); family therapy; CRAFT.
Harm Reduction
Never use alone, ventilation, don't use with CNS depressants, education for parents and schools.