sale or possession without a prescription is an offense under the medicines act. this statement would seemingly prohibit all non-medicinal uses of the chemical, though it is implied that only recreational use will be legally targeted. in india, for general anesthesia purposes, nitrous oxide is available as nitrous oxide ip. india's gas cylinder rules (1985) permit the transfer of gas from one cylinder to another for breathing purposes. because india's food & drug authority (fda-india) rules state that transferring a drug from one container to another (refilling) is equivalent to manufacturing, anyone found doing so must possess a drug manufacturing license. patterns of non-medical use inhalant drugs are often used by children, teenagers, incarcerated or institutionalized people, and impoverished people, because these solvents and gases are ingredients in hundreds of legally available, inexpensive products, such as deodorant sprays, hair spray, contact cement and aerosol air fresheners. however, most users tend to be "... adolescents (between the ages of 12 and 17)." in some countries, chronic, heavy inhalant use is concentrated in marginalized, impoverished communities. young people who become used to heavy amounts of inhalants chronically are also more likely to be those who are isolated from their families and community. the article "epidemiology of inhalant abuse: an international perspective" notes that "he most serious form of obsession with inhalant use probably occurs in countries other than the united states where young children live on the streets completely without family ties. these groups almost always use inhalants at very high levels (leal et al. 1978). this isolation can make it harder to keep in touch with the sniffer and encourage him or her to stop sniffing." the article also states that "... high rates among barrio hispanics almost undoubtedly are related to the poverty, lack of opportunity, and social dysfunction that occur in barrios" and states that the "... same general tendency appears for native-american youth" because "... indian reservations are among the most disadvantaged environments in the united states; there are high rates of unemployment, little opportunity, and high rates of alcoholism and other health problems." there are a wide range of social problems associated with inhalant use, such as feelings of distress, anxiety and grief for the community; violence and damage to property; violent crime; stresses on the juvenile justice system; and stresses on youth agencies and support services. africa and asia the canister on the left is whipped cream, a product which is pressurized with nitrous oxide. the two canisters on the right contain 'flavoured' oxygen. glue and gasoline (petrol) sniffing is also a problem in parts of africa, especially with street children. in india and south asia, three of the most widely used inhalants are the dendrite brand and other forms of contact adhesives and rubber cement manufactured in kolkata, and toluenes in paint thinners. genkem is a brand of glue, which had become the generic name for all the glues used by glue-sniffing children in africa before the manufacturer replaced n-hexane in its ingredients in 2000. the united nations office on drugs and crime has reported that glue sniffing is at the core of "street culture" in nairobi, kenya, and that the majority of street children in the city are habitual solvent users. research conducted by cottrell-boyce for the african journal of drug and alcohol studies found that glue sniffing amongst kenyan street children was primarily functional – dulling the senses against the hardship of life on the street – but it also provided a link to the support structure of the "street family" as a potent symbol of shared experience. similar incidents of glue sniffing among destitute youth in the philippines have also been reported, most commonly from groups of street children and teenagers collectively known as "rugby" boys, which were named after a brand of toluene-laden contact cement. other toluene-containing substances have also been used, most notably the vulca seal brand of roof sealants. bostik philippines, which currently owns the rugby and vulca seal brands, has since responded to the issue by adding bitterants such as mustard oil to their rugby line, as well as reformulating it by replacing toluene with xylene. several other manufacturers have also followed suit. another very common inhalant is erase-x, a correction fluid that contains toluene. it has become very common for school and college students to use it, because it is easily available in stationery shops in india. this fluid is also used by street and working children in delhi. europe and north america in the uk, marginalized youth use a number of inhalants, such as solvents and propellants. in russia and eastern europe, gasoline sniffing became common on russian ships following attempts to limit the supply of alcohol to ship crews in the 1980s. the documentary children underground depicts the huffing of a solvent called aurolac (a product used in chroming) by romanian homeless children. during the interwar period, the inhalation of ether (etheromania) was widespread in some regions of poland, especially in upper silesia. tens of thousands of people were affected by this problem. in canada, native children in the isolated northern labrador community of davis inlet were the focus of national concern in 1993, when many were found to be sniffing gasoline. the canadian and provincial newfoundland and labrador governments intervened on a number of occasions, sending many children away for treatment. despite being moved to the new community of natuashish in 2002, serious inhalant use problems have continued. similar problems were reported in sheshatshiu in 2000 and also in pikangikum first nation. in 2012, the issue once again made the news media in canada. in mexico, the inhaling of a mixture of gasoline and industrial solvents, known locally as "activo" or "chemo", has risen in popularity among the homeless and among the street children of mexico city in recent years. the mixture is poured onto a handkerchief and inhaled while held in one's fist. in the us, ether was used as a recreational drug during the 1930s prohibition era, when alcohol was made illegal. ether was either sniffed or drunk and, in some towns, replaced alcohol entirely. however, the risk of death from excessive sedation or overdose is greater than that with alcohol, and ether drinking is associated with damage to the stomach and gastrointestinal tract. use of glue, paint and gasoline became more common after the 1950s. model airplane glue-sniffing as problematic behavior among youth was first reported in 1959 and increased in the 1960s. use of aerosol sprays became more common in the 1980s, as older propellants such as cfcs were phased out and replaced by more environmentally friendly compounds such as propane and butane. most inhalant solvents and gases are not regulated under drug laws such as the united states controlled substances act. however, many us states and canadian cities have placed restrictions on the sale of some solvent-containing products to minors, particularly for products widely associated with sniffing, such as model cement. the practice of inhaling such substances is sometimes colloquially referred to as huffing, sniffing (or glue sniffing), dusting, or chroming. australia gasoline (also known as petrol) is used as an inhalant in impoverished communities. australia has long faced a petrol (gasoline) sniffing problem in isolated and impoverished aboriginal communities. although some sources argue that sniffing was introduced by united states servicemen stationed in the nation's top end during world war ii or through experimentation by 1940s-era cobourg peninsula sawmill workers, other sources claim that inhalant abuse (such as glue inhalation) emerged in australia in the late 1960s. chronic, heavy petrol sniffing appears to occur among remote, impoverished indigenous communities, where the ready accessibility of petrol has helped to make it a common addictive substance. in australia, petrol sniffing now occurs widely throughout remote aboriginal communities in the northern territory, western australia, northern parts of south australia, and queensland. the number of people sniffing petrol goes up and down over time as young people experiment or sniff occasionally. "boss", or chronic, sniffers may move in and out of communities; they are often responsible for encouraging young people to take it up. a 1983 survey of 4,165 secondary students in new south wales showed that solvents and aerosols ranked just after analgesics (e.g., codeine pills) and alcohol for drugs that were inappropriately used. this 1983 study did not find any common usage patterns or social class factors. the causes of death for inhalant users in australia included pneumonia, cardiac failure/arrest, aspiration of vomit, and burns. in 1985, there were 14 communities in central australia reporting young people sniffing. in july 1997, it was estimated that there were around 200 young people sniffing petrol across 10 communities in central australia. approximately 40 were classified as chronic sniffers. there have been reports of young aboriginal people sniffing petrol in the urban areas around darwin and alice springs. in 2005, the government of australia and bp australia began the usage of opal fuel in remote areas prone to petrol sniffing. opal is a non-sniffable fuel (which is much less likely to cause a high) and has made a difference in some indigenous communities. in popular culture music and musical culture one of the early musical references to inhalant use occurs in the 1974 elton john song "the bitch is back", in the line "i get high in the evening sniffing pots of glue." inhalant use, especially glue-sniffing, is widely associated with the late-1970s punk youth subculture in the uk and north america. raymond cochrane and douglas carroll claim that when glue sniffing became widespread in the late 1970s, it was "adopted by punks because public perceptions of sniffing fitted in with their self-image" as rebels against societal values. while punks at first used inhalants "experimentally and as a cheap high, adult disgust and hostility encouraged punks to use glue sniffing as a way of shocking society." as well, using inhalants was a way of expressing their anti-corporatist diy (do it yourself) credo; by using inexpensive household products as inhalants, punks did not have to purchase industrially manufactured liquor or beer. the punk subculture, in which members may live in squats or on the street, has been associated with "glue sniffing" since its inception. one history of the punk subculture argues that "substance abuse was often referred to in the music and did become synonymous with the genre, glue-sniffing especially" because the youths' "faith in the future had died and that the youth just didn't care anymore" due to the "awareness of the threat of nuclear war and a pervasive sense of doom." in a bbc interview with a person who was a punk in the late 1970s, they said that "there was a real fear of imminent nuclear war—people were sniffing glue knowing that it could kill them, but they didn't care because they believed that very soon everybody would be dead anyway." a number of 1970s punk rock and 1980s hardcore punk songs refer to inhalant use. the ramones, an influential early us punk band, referred to inhalant use in several of their songs. the song "now i wanna sniff some glue" describes adolescent boredom, and the song "carbona not glue" states, "my brain is stuck from shooting glue." an influential punk fanzine about the subculture and music took its name (sniffin' glue) from the ramones song. the 1980s punk band the dead milkmen wrote a song, "life is shit" from their album beelzebubba, about two friends hallucinating after sniffing glue. punk-band-turned-hip-hop group the beastie boys penned a song "hold it now – hit it", which includes the line "cause i'm beer drinkin, breath stinkin, sniffing glue." their song "shake your rump" includes the lines, "should i have another sip no skip it/in the back of the ride and bust with the whippits". pop punk band sum 41 wrote a song, "fat lip", which refers to a character who does not "make sense from all the gas you be huffing..." the song lança-perfume, written and performed by brazilian pop star rita lee, became a national hit in 1980. the song is about chloroethane and its widespread recreational sale and use during the rise of brazil's carnivals. inhalants are referred to by bands from other genres, including several grunge bands—an early 1990s genre that was influenced by punk rock. the 1990s grunge band nirvana, which was influenced by punk music, penned