INHALANTS
“I actually found myself talking to what I call ‘gas buddies’ (the hallucinations). One day I was huffing and I thought my friend died because the hallucination of him came to me. I found myself huffing not only for the visuals, but for the company of these imaginary ‘friends’ that would come to me when I would start to huff. I have been struggling with this addiction for about seven months now.” —Erik
“For three days, a friend gave me glue, free of cost. On the fourth day he asked for money from me. By then, I was addicted and I had to give him money to get a tube of glue. I needed several tubes of glue daily.” —Marty
“For fourteen and a half years, it was a steady progression from glue sniffing, gas sniffing, magic mushrooms....Then I started on cannabis. I was spending my money on as much cannabis as I could get my hands on. Then I was old enough to go into the clubs, so I started there on amphetamines and Ecstasy.
“I began hanging out with people who were taking heroin, and soon I was using it more and more until I was addicted. I had no idea then, the damage it would cause me later. That I would be serving one prison sentence after another, burglarizing people’s houses, stealing from my family. All the pain and heartache that I have caused was worse than stealing the material things from them.” —Jamie
“Jason had been at a friend’s house, sniffing glue or lighter fluid, maybe both. On the way back to school, Jason kept blacking out. Finally, he fell and never got up. By the time we were able to get him to the hospital, it was too late.” —Cathy, parent
“Tomorrow is the sixth anniversary of our son Justin’s death. He was sixteen. He died from inhaling air freshener, an act of inhalant abuse. His senseless death rocked the worlds of all who knew him. Justin was an honors student who loved life and embraced it with enthusiasm. (He was a source of inspiration for many.) I will always be haunted by the question of whether Justin would be with us today had he known about the risks he was taking.” —Jackie, parent
