CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M – The war on drugs continues to rage on in Cibola County, with little movement in the overall fight. In this conflict, the Cibola Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition has stepped up to battle the most easily accessed drugs in the county – inhalants. These drugs, which come in thousands of forms, can stop the heart and cause sudden death in all people regardless of age, race, or gender. The coalition’s battle has been mostly successful, but they need help to spread awareness and save lives in the community.
What are inhalants?
Better known as whippets, huff, spray, and poppers, these drugs are easily accessed and are used to attain a quick high. According to Lori Vigil, the leader of Cibola Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, the users likely don’t realize the damage they are causing to their brain and body when they use these drugs.
Inhalants come in literally thousands of forms, from spray paint to gasoline, shoe polish, glue, lighter fluid, and even hairspray. These are simple, common household items that are being used to get high.
According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, inside these basic household items there are invisible vapors that, when inhaled, cause the heart to begin beating at a faster-than-regular pace to quickly circulate the chemicals throughout the body and to the brain. According to information supplied by the coalition, these basic household items create an effect similar to anesthetics – a sometimes permanent loss of sensation and awareness of surroundings. This slows down the body’s functions for a time, but as the high progresses the user begins to feel a sensation of drowsiness that is followed by light-headedness and agitation.
So, how do inhalants work? Just as the name implies, the process begins by inhaling the common household item. These items contain toxic chemicals that may warrant a call to the poison control, the effects that these household items have can be deadly. According to Vigil, some users will inhale directly from an open container, known as “sniffing.” Other users breathe in the toxic chemicals through rags soaked in the chemical. Some users will spray the chemical into their nose, or on part of their body where they can breathe it in periodically. All of these methods can lead to serious disability or even death. Of these methods, perhaps the deadliest is known as “bagging.” Vigil explained that in this process the user inhales the chemicals from a plastic or increases a user’s risk of suffocation.
Inhalants don’t start or stop with basic household items, though. Inhalants include vaporizing pens, better known as vapes. Vigil explained that some people try to use nicotine vape pens to help ween themselves off of traditional tobacco smoke, “Some of these vapes have 100 times more nicotine than a cigarette.”
Vigil expressed her concern over the vape pens, which were originally marketed as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. “They have flavored types,” she explained, “They can be marketed in fun names that attract children to them.”
Nicotine is an addictive substance and can only be purchased by people 21 and older, Vigil warned.
Vigil explained that people who use these common household items to get high can be at risk of serious physical and mental harm.
Disability and death by inhalant
Chemicals inhaled by a user to get high can be deadly, or even lead to severe disability.
The Foundation For A Drug Free World declared in a statement that “Inhalants starve the body of oxygen and force the heart to beat irregularly and more rapidly. Users can experience nausea and nosebleeds and lose their sense of hearing or smell. Chronic use can lead to muscle wasting and reduced muscle tone, and the poisonous chemicals gradually damage the lungs and immune system.”
These are just some of the serious side effects that come from inhalants. These inhalants can be physically and psychologically addictive, one user the Cibola Citizen spoke with whom did not wish to be identified said that they would often use inhalants like computer cleaner for the hallucinogenic effect that created an illusion of other people being in the room.
The effects of inhalants can be as simple as slurring words, to as deadly as suffocation. When inhalants are used, the chemicals rapidly replace the oxygen in the body and can quickly cause asphyxiation, or suffocation, according to information from the Cibola Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition.
Combatting the use of inhalants
The Cibola Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition has teamed up with Walmart in Grants, New Mexico, to remove the most commonly used inhalants, like computer cleaner, from easy access on the shelves.
Working with the youth is proving a successful tool in the War on Drugs, education, Vigil says, is key to keep the community safe and the streets clean. The coalition has been working with Grants High School to establish the Peers Against Destructive Decisions group, where high schoolers are equipped with the knowledge they need to be advocates against the use of drugs within the community. The coalition has been working with PAAD to stop the use of illicit substances before it happens.
In the coalitions work, they found that several students from local schools were identifying theft as their easiest way to obtain inhalants like computer cleaner. “I really appreciate what Walmart has done to make it harder to get these chemicals,” Vigil explained.
Vigil said that locking up the computer spray is only one preventative measure, and that there are multiple solutions a family can use to educate their children about the dangers of inhalants. The Cibola Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition has tips, tricks, and resources available to help families struggling with addiction to inhalants or other illicit substances.
For access to their resources, contact the Cibola Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition at 505-240-2621.
Assistance with addiction
For people in need of assistance with opioid addiction, there is help available.
State assistance:
• The NM Crisis and Access Line can be reached at 1-855-662-7474.
• The New Mexico Department of Health Opiate Overdose Prevention Helpline can be reached at 1-855-364-6663.
Cibola assistance:
• Cibola General Hospital can be reached at 505-287-4446.
• Valle De Sol Behavioral Health can be reached at 505-287-7985.
• PMS Grants Family Counseling can be reached at 505-876-1890.
• Pueblo of Laguna Behavioral Health can be reached at 505-552-6513.
• Pueblo of Acoma Behavioral Health can be reached at 505-552-6661.
• Ramah Navajo Behavioral Health Services can be reached at 505-775-3353.
• Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Hospital can be reached at 505-552-5300.
• Cibola County Regional Dispatch non-emergency line can be contacted at 505-287-4404. Call 911 if you or someone around you is having a medical emergency like an overdose.