Getting High With Cigarette Lighter Gas: A Dangerous New Trend
Relatively frequent risk behaviors on the part of the youngest have always been a characteristic of this age group. Adolescents and young adults, in general, show a greater tendency to underestimate the danger of the consequences of their actions, although this does not mean that in the family context a very protective attitude must be adopted in all cases.
However, when we add to this that the rapid technological advance produced in the last two centuries exposes adolescents to new risks for which there are still no prevention strategies on the part of society, this becomes an especially significant problem.
In this sense, Nowadays we are witnessing more and more frequently the emergence of new modalities of consuming drugs for recreational purposes carried out by both adolescents and young people in general; These are forms of substance abuse so “outside the system” that they are sometimes not even seen as drug use by those who resort to it. We are talking about practices such as getting high with gas from objects such as lighters or cream sprays, elements that are also common in every home and that, therefore, are very easy to access. In this article we will talk about this new phenomenon.
Times change, and with them, the ways that young people have to avoid the restrictions created to reduce exposure to substance addictions also evolve. As time goes by, New ideas are emerging that allow us to end up in a dynamic of substance abuse without having to commit very clear illegalities associated with the sale and purchase of psychoactive substances such as cocaine, heroin, MDMA…
One of these new trends of substance consumption consists of inhaling gas from lighters, a type of consumption that is gradually spreading in our country and in neighboring countries and that is seriously affecting the health of the youngest people.
In fact, in recent months, the inhalation of cigarette lighter gas has been leaving us with terrible news about the sudden deaths of boys and girls who consume the gas extracted from cigarette lighters to get “high” while partying, without even having to look for suppliers of illegal substances
This gas is known as “isobutane” or “blue gas” due to its characteristic color and is used throughout the world as a recreational drug along with others grouped under the category of inhalants, volatile substances that when inhaled cause psychoactive effects in the person. that consumes them by entering through the air.
The isobutane gas that some young people inhale on their nights out is not only obtained from cigarette lighters; Also, lighter refills with a capacity of about 300 ml are sold individually in tobacconists or other specialized stores, and are accessible to people of all ages without the need to show their identification document.
The fact that these types of objects can also be sold to minors makes this a public health problem which also affects young adolescents and pre-adolescents in which case the effect of consumption is even more dangerous for health.
To these new uses and abuses of drugs we must add the viral challenges of the Internet that may be related to drug consumption; Social networks do not usually have the ability to detect these posts in time before deleting them before thousands of people have seen them.
As indicated, The main objective sought by people who inhale gas from cigarette lighters is to “get high.” since the majority of this type of inhalant substances generate in the consumer an effect of euphoria, disinhibition, alteration of perception and distortion of reality.
According to the latest Survey on drug use in secondary education in Spain in 2021, 1.8% of Spanish secondary school students between 14 and 18 years old claimed to have used this type of substance at some point in their lives; and the average age of initiation of consumption is 15 years.
This means that it is a practice frequently initiated by increasingly younger young people whose negative effects on the consumer’s health can be serious and variable depending on the characteristics of each person.
Health risks
The main effects and risks of consuming isobutane gas obtained from a lighter can range from intense fatigue, nausea or vomiting and hallucinations, to temporary loss of vision and behavioral disorders.
In more severe cases, the main effect on the body is hypoxia or loss of oxygen in the blood and in the main organs of the body, which sometimes can precipitate cardiac arrest and, consequently, the death of the person.
The use of inhalant substances is varied and diverse, as has been mentioned, and there are many new products that young people encounter in daily life to achieve altered states of consciousness for recreational purposes.
The diversification of drug use
This can be considered an evolution of other similar practices based on the abuse of volatile drugs that became popular decades ago, especially by adolescents from lower classes or even those in a situation of complete marginality: inhaling glue gas, nitrites, hydrocarbons, or varnishes. Any substance that can produce chemical vapors with psychoactive effects and that do not cause immediate death are likely to end up leading to drug use.
In addition to inhaling gas from lighters, in recent years the use of other easily obtained objects has also become popular, such as, for example, inhalation of gases found in cream sprays which have a product similar to isobutane gas.
