Depressant
When inhaled, solvent-based glues, lighter fluid, cleaning agents and aerosols can give you a ‘high’, although your body is made to feel more relaxed. This is called volatile substance abuse (VSA) because you are using these products for things they weren't created for.
Solvents can be sniffed in a number of different ways. The ‘sudden sniffing death syndrome’ is peculiar to VSA, but there is no safe way to use them.
At first you may feel a bit like being drunk, for it depresses the nervous system, makes you light headed and giddy, with possible hallucinations, vomiting and headaches.
Long term effects: users can choke or suffocate, lose their short-term memory and concentration, suffer brain, kidney and liver damage, which is never pleasant.
The Law
It's not illegal to buy gases, glues and aerosols but they still aren't safe to us.
In Scotland it's illegal to sell them to someone suspected of using them to inhale.
Social