GLUE SNIFFING

Inhalant abuse by teenagers began in the early 1960's when it was found that inhaling the fumes from model airplane glue produced a "high."  Word spread and within two years there was a glue-sniffing epidemic.

Multiple deaths were reported, and laws were passed outlawing glue sniffing and prohibiting the sale of model airplane glue to minors.  Many people still refer to the practice as "glue sniffing" although today it is mostly solvents and propellants in aerosol spray cans that are abused.

One of these cases dates from the 1960's and involves a 19-year-old man who suffocated in his bathroom while sniffing glue. He had a history of glue sniffing and had been treated for a liver problem brought on by the sniffing when he was 12-years-old.

In the early cases, like the one shown here, the glue sniffer would smear glue in a plastic bag and place the bag over his head.  He died as much from a lack of oxygen as from the fumes given off by the glue.

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