Children and teenagers sniff glue to get euphoria. This method is cheap and accessible compared to drugs. By inhaling the smell of toxic products, such people get symptoms of intoxication and experience hallucinations.
Consequences of a bad habit
During inhalation, the volatile chemicals in the glue enter the addict's lungs and quickly enter the bloodstream. Symptoms of a central nervous system disorder appear, accompanied by hallucinations and behavior disorder. A person can provoke murder or commit suicide.
Due to brain damage, it is affected the most important centers, which sometimes causes respiratory and cardiac arrest. A substance abuser develops symptoms of kidney, liver, and skin diseases.
Substance abuse leads to human degradation. He escapes reality into an illusory world and does not care about his health. Usually bad habit becomes a stepping stone to drug addiction. The patient no longer has enough of the previous sensations, and he is looking for something new.
What toxic substances do drug addicts inhale?
For sniffing, the addict uses chemicals that can cause intoxication. Most often, a child sniffs the following substances:
- glue;
- paints;
- turpentine;
- solvents;
- nail polish remover;
- powders.
For the sake of the feeling of euphoria, the drug addict does not understand that he is sniffing toxic substances. Symptoms of intoxication appear, manifested in the form of hallucinations.
What are the signs to recognize addiction?
Parents need to remember that substance abusers usually consume chemicals in a plastic bag. You can find glue residues in it. If an unusual aroma emanates from your child’s things, you need to carefully monitor his behavior.
After inhalation chemical substances characteristic symptoms appear. The addict experiences dizziness and euphoria. Then speech and coordination of movements are impaired, and drowsiness appears. The condition is accompanied by various hallucinations and delusions. After 30–50 minutes, irritability, hyperactivity and aggression occur.
The first symptom that should alert parents is: constant change moods. Additional manifestations of addiction:
- the appearance of peeling skin in the nose area, or pustules;
- formation of burns, cracks or ulcers on the lips;
- muscle tremors, cramps;
- clearly increased appetite or its complete absence;
- persistent rhinitis, cough or nosebleeds.
Problems of a substance abuser
The severity of the effects depends on the dose and method of inhalation. If a child not only sniffs glue, but also uses alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, medications, the condition worsens even more.
Vapors of toxic substances enter the body through the respiratory organs. Abnormalities appear in the respiratory system. If substance abusers snort chemicals, they are prone to developing bronchospasm, laryngitis and pneumonia.
The patient is concerned about the following symptoms:
- damage to the nasal septum;
- dyspnea;
- chest pain.
A large number of hormones are formed. They cause disruption of the heart and blood vessels. Addicts suffer from hypotension and arrhythmia. Glue abuse increases the risk of heart attack and acute cerebrovascular accident.
With regular inhalation of glue, a change occurs in the central nervous system. The main symptoms of its defeat are:
- disorder of consciousness;
- irritability;
- insomnia;
- panic attacks;
- thoughts of suicide.
When a child sniffs glue, paralysis of the respiratory center can occur. Chemical fumes cause suffocation, respiratory arrest and death.
What are volatile substances?
A drug addict - a "sniffer" - is someone who intoxicates himself with so-called "volatile substances". narcotic substances"(or LNV). These substances are united by the ability to quickly evaporate and turn into gas during normal room temperature. It is the gaseous vapors that drug addicts inhale deeply into their lungs. Volatile substances are found in various chemical and technical preparations, such as paint solvents, gasoline, trichlorethylene, acetone, flammable gas in cylinders and gas for lighters.
What happens in the body?
Volatile narcotic substances are united by their ability to dissolve fats well. Lighter gas, solvents or gasoline dissolve fats well and therefore disrupt the functioning of all cells of the central nervous system (which contain a large number of fats). For this reason, when inhaling DNV vapors, a person feels intoxicated.
It is precisely because of their ability to dissolve fats that LNVs are so widely used both in industry and in household. However, this property is fraught with danger to human health. The fact is that when inhaled, solvents enter the lungs, and from there through the thin walls of the alveoli into the blood. Substances are absorbed by the blood and quickly enter the brain with its current. That is, they enter the brain directly, bypassing the liver or other organs. Therefore, intoxication occurs faster than in the case of drinking alcohol. The main amount of the volatile substance is exhaled with air. The remaining part, which is carried throughout the body in the blood, then enters the liver and is broken down into smaller molecules and then excreted in urine and feces. Many DNVs are completely eliminated from the body only after a few days. In some cases, breakdown products (called metabolites) are even more dangerous than the substance itself. This, for example, applies to a substance such as styrene, which is part of household chemicals. Since different DNVs have different degrees of solubility in the blood and tissues, they penetrate into the blood from the lungs differently, are distributed in the body, and are eliminated from it.
Since most DNVs are fat soluble, they can accumulate in fatty tissues of the body. This means that a lot of time may pass before the body is completely freed from the “dope.” Experiments with styrene show that if a person inhales air with a styrene concentration of 210 milligrams per cubic meter for two hours. meter (which is very small compared to the amount of substance that substance abusers inhale), then within 22 hours the content of styrene in the body remains unchanged.
The ability of LNV to accumulate in fat also means that it remains in numerous fat-containing tissues of the brain and nerve endings.
Intoxication
When gaseous vapors are inhaled, LNVs enter the blood through the lungs. With the blood, substances enter the nervous system, which affects them. As with any intoxication, the cerebral cortex suffers first, then the cerebellum, and finally last resort- medulla. If intoxication reaches the medulla oblongata, it can impair breathing, and then death is possible.
Most drug addicts stop inhaling before this stage occurs, because the desired intoxication occurs much earlier. Even before the medulla oblongata is affected, a person may experience nausea or vomiting. But with long-term regular abuse of a toxic substance in large quantities Nausea does not come so quickly. That is, it becomes dull normal reaction body, resulting in nausea and vomiting appearing much later. The more often and for longer a drug addict uses DNV, the large areas brain can be poisoned without the onset of nausea.
Intoxication is partly caused by the solvent itself, and partly by a lack of oxygen in the brain. As already mentioned, it comes on very quickly and disappears just as quickly. As a rule, intoxication lasts 10-30 minutes, and after an hour nothing is noticeable at all. The effect may be longer if you use high concentrations of poisons - for example, using a plastic bag or “catch up”, additionally inhaling DNV after a certain period of time.
Three stages
When inhaling toxic substances, three stages of intoxication can be distinguished. The first effects are reminiscent alcohol intoxication: coordination of movements worsens, reactions slow down, reflexes weaken, and the person feels something like euphoria (and may even become aggressive). It may be difficult for a drug addict to control his actions, and when the intoxication wears off, lethargy and headache.
On next stage, if you continue to inhale, become dull painful sensations. That is why ether and similar drugs were used in surgery as anesthetic agents. The skin becomes insensitive to pain. One girl was admitted to the hospital with a burn of 15 percent of the surface of her body, but did not feel any pain at all under the influence of the solvent. But when the intoxication wears off, the pain appears.
Burns are some of the most painful injuries you can suffer. Tolerance to pain is sometimes used as proof that a particular teenager “fits in” in a company where sexually active people are held in high esteem. It happens that teenagers, with the help of a burning cigarette, made burns on their hands as a secret sign of “initiation into the circle of the chosen ones” and evidence for the rest of the guys that “they are together.”
The fact that a guy can voluntarily withstand the pain of a burn serves as proof that he is already an experienced drug addict, is also experienced and shares the views of other members of the company. In circles of substance abusers, “tests” of other kinds are also possible - for example, scratches and knife cuts on the body, inflicted on oneself.
If the intoxication is very severe, a person may develop a condition that has almost all the characteristics similar to loss of consciousness or coma. Drug addicts who strive to achieve just such intoxication usually choose isolated places - basements or dark parks.
Harm caused by substance abuse
The degree of harm caused by inhaling DNV depends, of course, on what drug is used, how often, in what quantities, whether it occurs at the same time as taking other drugs, and on the circumstances of the use itself.
The use of all volatile substances leads to complications that can be both short-term and long-term. Since many volatile substances, such as toluene, paint thinners and trichlorethylene, are used in chemical industry, their harmful effects have been studied in detail. In Russia, the State Supervision, Occupational Health and Safety Authorities issue “Sanitary Norms and Rules” that establish maximum permissible concentrations of non-active substances in the air and mandatory safety measures when working with them. The regulations of the Swedish Occupational Safety and Health Committee, in particular, indicate that long-term contact with solvents can cause dizziness, asthenia, cause diseases of the brain and nervous system, and damage to internal organs, respiratory tract, skin diseases, vision organs, affect reproductive function, disrupt pregnancy, and also cause cancer.
Substance abusers who inhale DNV directly into their lungs naturally exceed established standards many times over, thereby exposing yourself to extreme danger.
Here are some of the possible consequences of inhaling volatile substances:
Panic attacks:
Inhaling LNV causes euphoria, and the person feels peaceful, calm and content. The perception of colors, sounds and light is enhanced. Some people think that they are sitting on a soft white cloud, from where they can watch various funny scenes, others think that the friends around them are little fairy-tale figures that they can control. For others it is impaired visual perception, and it seems to them that small insects are turning into giants.
These phenomena are examples of hallucinations, that is, conditions when perception is distorted and dreams and fantasies are mixed with reality. Everyone's mentally normal people exists protective barrier, separating reality (what happens in reality) and fiction (fantasies and dreams). Like smoking cannabis, inhaling illicit drugs breaks down this barrier, blurring the line between what is real and what is imagined. Some people think it's great to get into a dream world for a little while. But this meeting with a dream is not pleasant for everyone. It can be very scary. People under the influence of toxic volatile substances sometimes experience terrifying fantasies, a feeling of impending danger, and mortal fear. They result in anxiety, panic attacks, or depression so deep that thoughts of suicide appear.
Accidents:
Intoxication, leading to disturbances in muscle reflexes and sense of balance, coordination of movements, slow reaction and confusion, often causes various kinds accidents. People under the influence of volatile toxic substances often get into various troubles, get injured, become victims of traffic accidents, get involved in fights, etc. Some substance abusers hallucinate and think they are turning into supermen, which can be even more dangerous.
Burns:
Many volatile substances are highly flammable. When drug abuse is accompanied by smoking, burns often occur. For example, in England, two identical accidents were recorded: teenagers, sitting in a car, inhaled lighter gas. One of them tried to light a cigarette, causing the gas to ignite around his lips and hands, resulting in severe burns.
Suffocation:
In some cases, intoxication can lead to loss of consciousness, and in the worst cases, to disruption of the respiratory center of the brain, which causes suffocation. Choking sometimes also occurs because when vomiting, particles of vomit can get into the throat of an intoxicated person.
It is especially dangerous to “sniff” lighter gas. As it leaves the balloon, it expands and cools. When cold gas enters the airways, the body reacts by secreting fluid into the lungs (called "pulmonary edema"). A person can die from it, suffocating, as if he were drowning.
Sudden reflex apnea syndrome:
Another reason for deaths is that scientific language called sudden reflex cessation of breathing syndrome, and it can develop immediately after inhaling volatile substances or even during inhalation. When LNV is inhaled, a lot of adrenaline and other stress hormones are released into the blood, which in turn causes overload of the heart.
Along with this, the center of the brain responsible for regulating the functioning of the heart suffers from volatile substances, and thus, disturbances in the functioning of the heart are aggravated. If an intoxicated person is exposed to strong emotional or physical activity(in which additional amounts of stress hormones are released into the blood), the heart may stop and sudden death occurs due to toxic poisoning.
Complications that appear over time
The longer you abuse volatile substances, the correspondingly greater the risk of developing adverse consequences. Long-term substance abuse can cause liver and kidney diseases. Some solvents, such as benzene, attack the bone marrow tissue that produces blood cells, leading to decreased immunity and the development of leukemia ("leukemia"), a fatal blood disease.
Frequent companions of substance abuse are a runny nose, cough and sore throat, as well as increased general fatigue (or asthenia) and frequent headaches. But what is even more noticeable to others - family and friends - is that the substance abuser gradually changes as a person. He or she becomes a “different person,” more irritable, anxious, distracted, and depressed. Changes in character are partly caused by poisoning with volatile substances, and partly by changes in life situation due to drugs. It was possible to prove that people who have been in contact with DNV for a long time suffer from serious brain diseases. In addition, there is a high risk of developing brain disorders - for example, encephalopathy, which is expressed in decreased intelligence, impaired memory for current events, and inability to control one’s feelings.
But changes in character can also be a consequence of the fact that the life situation of a substance abuser is worsening.
Regular drug use inevitably leads to various types of conflicts. Problems arise at school, teachers constantly call parents, who, in turn, begin to worry more and more. The addict's friends shun him, and his whole life is filled with lies, conflicts and uncertainty.
Substance abuse prevents normal development
Teenagers are more sensitive to toxic substances and are more affected by drugs than adults. A teenager's brain and other organs are not yet fully formed. Moreover, it is not enough mature personality A teenager is at the crossroads of two worlds – a child’s and an adult’s. Transitional age sometimes called a "small revolution" in human life. Simultaneously with the rapid physical transformation, similar changes occur in character and in spiritual world personality. Inner world a teenager, while he is in search of his own “I,” is extremely fragile. To find one’s own “I” means to determine for oneself “who I am”, to gain an understanding of oneself as a constant quantity that cannot be changed. external pressure and does not change depending on the situation. To achieve this internal stability, a teenager needs to free himself from parental care. Liberation, of course, does not mean complete departure from parents, but only liberation from childhood dependence and the transition to an “adult type” of relationships with parents and other people.
The teenager must also develop socially.
Communicating with other adults, getting an education, and then a job, you need to find your social role in society.
The teenager is right in the middle of all these “developmental challenges.” Most transition period doesn't come easy. They feel somehow insecure; everything causes irritation, apathy, and perhaps anxiety. Lack of self-confidence causes a feeling of mental instability. Almost all teenagers suffer from this imbalance in self and they think it's difficult period in life.
This is also why you should stay away from drugs. Substance abuse and drug addiction generally make us perceive reality in a distorted form. The state of intoxication pushes aside feelings of uncertainty, guilt and melancholy. At a time when life around you seems a little difficult, it attracts. But all this is just an illusion.
Intoxication may be thought of as a “freedom” from painful phenomena. adolescent development, and therefore there is a risk of becoming hooked on drugs. A deceptive feeling appears, as if a solution to the problem has been found, but in fact, if you start “snorting” or taking other drugs, personality development stops. Daydreaming displaces the activity, stubbornness and aggressiveness characteristic of adolescence. If development stops, then the person remains infantile, helpless, completely dependent on others.
DNV abuse can cause addiction
The euphoria initially felt when intoxicated may seem insufficient after a while. Volatile substances begin to take over thoughts and feelings more and more, and in the end, even if the person himself does not notice it, a desire to achieve everything appears. to a greater extent intoxication. Then substance abuse becomes a problem. A person is unable to perceive reality as it is. He “needs” to see her distorted, as she appears in the illusions that arise when the brain is affected by drugs. Dependence in the abuse of volatile substances is usually mental (i.e., representing a more or less strong “internal need”), but it can also arise physical dependence.
Regular use of DNV can cause the development of tolerance, in which the drug addict needs increasingly higher doses in order to achieve the same level of intoxication as before. Increasing tolerance means that the body is trying to adapt, “get used” to the toxic substance.
If it's wallpaper, then nothing will happen; if it's PVA or casein, then probably nothing will happen either. If you try to sniff superglue, you'll probably tear the tube off your nose along with your skin. In general, the result may not be predictable. From nothing to terrible poisoning (forget about the hallucinogenic glue; the Henkel company has changed the technology).
Any glue-assumes chemical composition. Accordingly, an unpleasant (and for some people a pleasant) smell is a pair of these chemical elements that poison your body.
What will happen is deviations in the body of varying severity, if not in the sniffer, then in his children.
To prevent this from happening, we parents need to think about our employment. child, proper upbringing and an example so that such stupid ideas do not arise in your head.
I was once present at this process, and the people who smelled it did so at barbecues. They smelled it and immediately looked at the sky or at the nature of the forest belt where it happened and, as they themselves said: They were catching minnows.
The downside of this whole activity was that no matter what they ate or drank, it seemed to them that it tasted like glue, including barbecue.
If we look at this phenomenon from medical point vision, then dysfunction occurs in the brain, which is caused by toxic substances in the glue, causing it to malfunction, and in place with it false reactions that provoke pseudo-conduct.
First you sniff the glue, then you want to sniff the powder again, then lick it, then chew the grass, take a pill, give an injection...
In life, you have to try everything: when you get a buzz, you want to walk on water and fly out the window from the 9th floor!
Life will be fun, but it will be too short!
One plus from this is that you definitely won’t have time to leave heirs with the same desires on Earth.
so you have to write everything as it is.
But it will be fine! And for everyone. And there are two main reasons:
1- if there are such thoughts in your head and you cannot overcome them, then apparently heredity or excessive curiosity is taking its toll. Both always lead to the same end (and without heirs), which in general is not bad, because... an overabundance of drug addicts is fraught with consequences for the rest of the population;
2- an enterprise producing glue will always be afloat, because... If there is a black mark in a family, then there are still enough families in our country.
The photo below is a perspective for those who start sniffing glue. If everything is fine and she is quite happy with it, then you NEED to sniff the glue. And as often as possible.
This is where drug addicts begin... Look at them before you start and think, do you want to be like them, if not, then don’t start, if so, then... you don’t have to suffer.... .
I knew some drug addicts. Who died, who became crippled. And those who got scared and stopped, and now live normally.
Should I snort, smoke or drink? everyone makes their choice.
It is strictly forbidden to sniff glue, because it contains various toxic substances. Inhaling them, a person begins to gradually become dull, he begins to have hallucinations, visions, he ceases to feel the difference between real world and illusory. Poisoning, headaches, irreversible changes in the brain will occur quickly, and an overdose is fraught with fatal. Therefore, you need to use glue for its intended purpose and try not to inhale it.
The brain is poisoned by toxic compounds contained in the glue. From repeated intoxication, the brain dries out, the person becomes dull, becomes an idiot, and then pees and poops on himself... and so on until he dies.
Of course, the glue is different and with different influences on the body. But I think if the glue contains chemicals, it will have a depressing effect on the nervous system and an unpredictable effect on the brain. At first there may be euphoria, and then death is not far away. Therefore, you should not inhale any chemical fumes.
If you sniff hallucinogenic glue, then irreversible consequences will occur in your head. A person may slowly go crazy or simply become stupid. You won't get anything positive from sniffing glue. What they say cartoons watch under the influence of substance abuse is a play on the imagination of a drug addict. A person who has taken a sniff may seem to be in a near-death state from intoxication of the body and a reaction such as delirium is activated. Similar to the reaction when a person with high temperature sick and delirious as in a dream. In a state of passion, a substance abuser can, for example, jump from a height and die, under a car, etc..
Substance abuse in modern understanding was first registered in the United States in 1960. The police received the first alarming report of teenagers inhaling gaseous substances bringing yourself to drug intoxication. Gasoline, solvents, varnishes, paints - in fact, any household chemical liquids were suitable for such dangerous entertainment. Substance abuse came to the USSR with a slight delay: even in the conditions of “ iron curtain"and the accompanying information isolation, Soviet teenagers came up with the idea unconventional ways using gasoline, stain removers, dichlorvos and, of course, the legendary Moment glue.
Until the mid-1980s, substance abuse in the USSR was not widespread, and its foci were located mainly on the very outskirts and in the “dead” spots of the country. There were exceptions: for example, a real epidemic of substance abuse broke out in the Baltic states in 1975 - but even this, despite its scale, was an isolated phenomenon and could not cause a pattern. It must be said that, according to the Ministry of Health, which kept a less attentive, in contrast to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, accounting of “contingents of patients with substance abuse and drug addiction”, by 1955 in the USSR only 1,854 people were identified who abused chemicals and narcotic substances to the detriment of their health.
Gasoline, solvents, varnishes, paints - in fact, any household chemical liquids were suitable for such dangerous entertainment.
VIKTOR PELEVIN
"Generation P"
“If cocaine was sold in pharmacies for twenty kopecks per gram as a rinse for toothache, only punks would snort it - as was, in fact, the case at the beginning of the century. But if “Moment” glue cost a thousand dollars per bottle, all Moscow’s golden youth would eagerly sniff it, and at presentations and receptions it would be considered refined to spread a volatile chemical smell around oneself, complain about the death of brain neurons and retire to the toilet for a long time.” .
Fracture
The situation was dramatically changed by Mikhail Gorbachev’s anti-alcohol campaign, launched in 1985-1990 and carried out under the slogan “Sobriety is the norm of life.” In those years, cheap Andropovka vodka (which cost 4 rubles 70 kopecks) disappeared from the shelves, and its closest equivalent cost twice as much. Stores selling alcohol were closed, and the remaining ones served alcohol from 14:00 to 19:00. In Russia, Moldova and Ukraine, vineyards were cut down, factories were closed (the legendary Massandra factory was almost destroyed), which is why grape varieties and table wines disappeared forever - for example, the Black Doctor brand was considered irretrievably lost until recently . Police control has increased: severe reprimands, dismissals, expulsions from the party and school have become a much more tangible threat than before.
Moonshining required knowledge technical processes and equipment for the production of surrogates, and the purchase of vodka from taxi drivers is a mutual courage of both parties. Harder drugs remained the prerogative former prisoners or soldiers who served in Central Asia, veterans of the Afghan campaign of 1979-1989 and chemist enthusiasts. But glue and a plastic bag - everything needed for toxic inhalation - could be bought at any hardware store under the pretext of “gluing up a ship model.” And although already in 1987 the “semi-prohibition law” was actually suspended, two years was enough for children from wealthy and major cities The USSR is addicted to a new drug. Lower Volga region, Astrakhan, certain areas of Moscow and Leningrad have adopted new ways to “get high.”
Glue and a plastic bag - everything needed for toxic inhalation - could be bought at any hardware store under the pretext of “gluing up a model ship”
Legs McNeill, Gillian McCain
“Please kill me!”
“Not only was I smoking good weed, but I also started snorting glue,” Dee Dee Ramone recalls. – Glue, tuinal and seconal. Funny, you can't take your head out of the bag. We poisoned together with Egg, my friend, because Egg was such a guy. He didn't do dope, weed, or acid, and he liked to snort Carbona (a cleaning fluid) and glue. After sniffing the glue, we started making phone calls.
There were such numbers, you called there, and strange beeps were heard on the receiver. We would call, it would sound “Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep”, and we would listen to these sounds for hours. Then they sniffed glue. If we didn't have glue, Egg would go to the supermarket, bring back a couple of cans of whipped cream, and we'd snort the gas from there. Anything to make you crazy - cough medicine, glue, Tuinal, Seconal.”
Acceleration
The “acceleration period” of Gorbachev’s perestroika passed at a slower speed for many children. Schoolchildren and vocational school students, in search of new sensations, have chosen basements, roofs and abandoned buildings. At first, the inhalation technique was imperfect: a package with toxic substance teenagers put it on their heads. Already by 1986, after 10 recorded deaths in Leningrad alone (after a deep breath, the teenager was unable to pull the bag off his head), the film began to be applied to the face.
Episode like death very colorfully depicted in Albert Mkrtchtyan’s film “ Government House» 1990. There's a black student there orphanage Gamal, nicknamed "Brownie", dies with a bag on his head in an abandoned church, having inhaled benzene fumes. Towards the end of the film, as a warning to his comrade, who reached out to the treasured canister, he will be resurrected as a hallucination with an ominous voice and sparkling green eyes: “Remember, you dreamed of me? I called you."
Instantly begins to form informal slang substance abusers: “mask” means alternate inhalation through the nose and mouth, and “petal” means exclusively through the mouth. The ritual of substance abuse itself is called “shabby”. Teenagers are already “getting wild” all over the country: if in 1980 only 36 thousand drug addicts were registered throughout the USSR, then by 1987 their number, according to reports from the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and data from researchers I.G. Urakova and L.D. Miroshnichenko, exceeds the mark of 51,900 people, of which 8 thousand prefer substance abuse to more expensive and hard-to-find drugs.
And these are only citizens registered in drug treatment institutions. By 1987, 130,300 people had already been identified as drug addicts and substance abusers who had not been seen by narcologists. The drug treatment service to identify substance abusers is knocked down, and the result of their work is the Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council RSFSR from 1987: teenagers under 16 years of age who evade voluntary treatment are forced to undergo compulsory treatment in LVP - treatment and educational dispensaries for a period of six months to two years. Until 1989, sulfozine (sublimating sulfur in peach oil), widely used in psychiatry to pacify particularly violent patients, was used as a detoxification agent in such institutions.
Typically, the formation of drug-addicted “collectives” occurs at the place of residence or study - entire classes are often recorded inhaling glue at odd hours. In groups of substance abusers, the male gender predominates; average statistical significance of women in the drug environment is 11.9%, among drug addicts - only 3%. The age category ranges from 12-18 years; a significant number of teenagers have troubled backgrounds; many are registered in the children's room of the police. The leaders of drug-addicted groups most often belong to unstable and epileptoid character types, and the “extras” consist of the most conforming teenagers.
"Mask" means alternate inhalation through the nose
and the mouth, and the “petal” - exclusively with the mouth.
The ritual of substance abuse itself is called “shabby”.
DMITRY MISHENIN
art group Doping-Pong
“One day we came to a basketball sports school and they gathered us in the conference room. And there the coach told us that the five boys with whom we played yesterday in the match for the national championship title among juniors Soviet Union, were found at home at one of them - dead, with gas masks on their heads and with plastic bags with Moment glue attached to the hoses. It was 1985 outside. We were 13 years old. We were all from good families. It was a terrible moment. Our entire team sat in complete silence and in complete shock from the news they heard. Only icy goosebumps ran across my skin, and I felt extremely uneasy.”
Effect
What does a substance abuser observe? The nature of the hallucinations may depend on the substance. So, according to drug addicts, acetone is more likely to cause hallucinations of sexual content. 10-minute inhalation of gasoline vapors (benzene, xylene, toluene) contributes to the appearance of frightening visual and auditory hallucinations, based on previous experiences - books, pioneer camp horror stories and films. The euphoria passes after 15-30 minutes, and the stunned teenager returns to reality, combined with headache, lethargy, irritability and nausea. Repeated inhalation contributes to the development of delirium - monsters and monsters return again, space flights and battles with devils.
Tales about how, under the influence of gasoline fumes, teenagers jumped out of the window to escape hidden threat, are probably exaggerated. Even despite the adventurous nature of hallucinations, drug addicts who have received a “dose” are too inhibited to run somewhere, much less jump. Stories about fires and burns ring more true: in them, juvenile drug addicts tried to smoke without washing flammable stains off their faces and hands. The popularity of gasoline among drug addicts was also due to the fact that to obtain it you did not need either money or burglary - just drain a glass of fuel from a parked Moskvich.
And yet, Moment glue remained the king of toxic inhalants for almost 20 years. Bought under license from the German company Henkel in 1979, “Moment” immediately earned recognition not only among workers and housewives, but also among “difficult” teenagers. It is “Moment” that will be associated with “watching cartoons” - that is, euphoric hallucination.
Behind the harmless slang name, obviously, was hidden the so-called “Leroy syndrome” (another name is “Lilliputian hallucinations”), which consists of observing non-existent small creatures against the background of the usual size of the environment. By different versions, the manifestation of Leroy's syndrome can be facilitated by both intoxication psychosis and damage to the temporal lobes and olfactory brain. In 1998, toluene was excluded from the composition of Moment glue, which provided the desired effect during inhalation.
In 1998, toluene was excluded from the composition of Moment glue, which provided the desired effect during inhalation
Substance abuse among adolescents is serious problem For modern society, although there is an opinion that this phenomenon is much less dangerous than drug addiction. But due to its destructive effect on the body of children and adolescents, the availability of used toxic substances, the speed of development of mental dependence - this disease poses a serious threat.
It is not customary among narcologists to divide patients into substance abusers and drug addicts: both diseases develop according to similar principles and are subject to serious professional treatment. The only difference is in the drugs used - drug addicts take non-narcotic chemicals.
Types of substance abuse
In substance abuse, a person uses chemical compounds with hallucinogenic and intoxicating effects. The method of introducing them into the body is through the lungs, by inhaling vapors. Thus, the toxic compound directly affects the brain, poisoning it and causing death nerve cells- neurons, which results in intoxication. With other methods of administration this chemical compound usually too toxic or does not produce hallucinogenic effects.
Distinguish the following types substance abuse depending on the substances used.
In general, when they talk about this problem, they mean substance abuse with gasoline and other readily available substances from the group of hydrocarbons: varnishes, paints, gases.
The harm of substance abuse
Toxic substances cause chronic poisoning organism, mental and physical dependence develops. From the point of view of biological processes, substance abuse is no different from drug addiction. Gasoline addiction, for example, its consequences are as dangerous as heroin addiction.
Irreversible brain damage
According to statistics, a significant part of substance abusers are teenagers aged 10 to 16 years. They begin to use toxic substances, seeking new sensations. As a rule, children are drawn into this activity by an older, experienced drug addict. The main harm of substance abuse to society lies in the targeting of the disease to the younger generation.
Physical danger consists of irreversible destruction organic structures brain, disruption of the lungs, heart, liver and kidneys, death of adolescents from overdose. Substance abuse and its consequences have great social significance: the teenager’s psyche is disturbed, he lags behind his peers in development, does not learn school curriculum and stops going to school. As a result, he becomes isolated in his addiction and completely falls out of society.
A drug addict cannot return to normal life even if he is cured - irreversible damage to the cerebral cortex makes him disabled.
How does substance abuse manifest?
Externally, the state after consuming toxic substances is similar to intoxication from alcohol. Signs of substance abuse are also similar to behavioral disorders in drug addicts. There are also symptoms that develop as a result of the effects of poison on the body as a whole. A few days after the first sessions, substance abusers develop a runny nose, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eyes, and then bronchitis may develop. Also characteristic:
Visible social consequences substance abuse: the social circle changes, it includes the same substance abusers or children with slow mental development. Developing unmotivated aggression, often brought to the police.
How addiction develops
When a toxic substance is inhaled, the first signs appear after 5 minutes - dizziness, tinnitus, fog in the head. After 7–10 minutes, coordination disorder develops. After another 3 minutes, euphoria sets in, nervous excitement, unbridled joy. Hallucinations then occur for 10–15 minutes. Subjective time while stretching. Then a decline occurs, and the drug addict inhales the substance again, doing up to 7-8 such cycles.
Mental dependence in substance abuse can develop after 2-3 uses. The teenager is overcome by the desire to experience euphoria and hallucinations again; without such sensations, discomfort arises. The drug addict forgets the phase between inhalation and the appearance of hallucinations - discomfort doesn’t remember, but remembers the euphoria. He begins to regularly inhale toxic substances, seeks means to fulfill his mania, it becomes the meaning of his life.
Physical dependence develops more slowly, over 1–2 months. At first, it is enough for substance abusers to use once every 3-4 days, then they quickly slip into daily use. As a result, the toxic substance is taken twice a day - morning and evening. Substance abuse is characterized by a rapid increase in dose - within a month it increases 4–5 times, and the state of intoxication is shortened to 1–2 hours. At the same time, the body's reactions to the toxin weaken - inflammatory phenomena from the mucous membranes, palpitations and shortness of breath are less pronounced.
As a result of cessation of use, disorders of the central and autonomic nervous system occur - withdrawal syndrome, or withdrawal syndrome. It is one of the consequences of substance abuse. Drug addicts call it withdrawal. It develops after the inhalation of the substance has stopped and lasts until the next dose; if the toxic drug is unavailable, it lasts for about 5 days.
Consequences of substance abuse
Lung cancer is a consequence of substance abuse
The disease has serious consequences for both individual, and for society as a whole. As a result of the use of toxic substances, the need to experience euphoria quickly develops, and due to the body’s addiction to the toxic effect, even significant doses are no longer effective. Therefore, those substance abusers who did not die from exposure to poison become drug addicts, that is, they switch to using narcotic drugs.
For physical health the consequences of substance abuse can be as follows:
- respiratory tract burns;
- cirrhosis of the liver;
- lungs' cancer;
- lung abscess and its complications - pulmonary hemorrhages, degeneration of lung tissue, degeneration of the structure of internal organs;
- pathology of cardiac activity - heart attack, hypertension, heart defects;
- benign and malignant kidney tumors;
- inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines.
Even one-time use harmful substances can cause mental addiction and draw the teenager into vicious circle. A drug addict does not control his actions and is detached from reality. Physical consequences Substance abuse is irreversible! Even in the case of complete recovery from addiction, the patient develops persistent disturbances in brain activity and becomes a mentally disabled person.