Candle Culture

Inhalation of butane can cause euphoria, drowsiness, unconsciousness, asphyxia, cardiac arrhythmia, fluctuations in blood pressure and temporary memory loss, when abused directly from a highly pressurized container, and can result in death from asphyxiation and ventricular fibrillation. It enters the blood supply and within seconds produces intoxication.^[30] Butane is the most commonly abused volatile substance in the UK, and was the cause of 52% of solvent related deaths in 2000.^[31] By spraying butane directly into the throat, the jet of fluid can cool rapidly to −20 °C (−4 °F) by expansion, causing prolonged laryngospasm.^[32]“Sudden sniffer’s death” syndrome, first described by Bass in 1970,^[33] is the most common single cause of solvent related death, resulting in 55% of known fatal cases.^[32]