Studies by the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, with
sponsorship from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
revealed that kids on the brink of being teenagers are using inhalants more
often than marijuana and prescription painkillers.
According to these studies, inhaling common household
products such as shoe polish, glue, aerosol air fresheners, hair sprays, nail
polish, paint solvents, degreasers, gasoline and lighter fluid now appear to be
the preferred way to get high in this age group.
About 3.4 percent of 12-year-olds reported using an inhalant, while only 1.1
percent tried marijuana, and 2.7 percent took prescription painkillers in 2007.
That trend continued with 13-year-olds, with 4.8 percent using inhalants, 4
percent trying marijuana, and 3.9 percent taking prescription painkillers. By
age 14, inhalant use dropped behind the use of marijuana, painkillers and other
drugs.
“Our data show that 1.1 million 12-to-17-year-olds acknowledge using
inhalants last year. Our data also indicate that there are almost 600,000
teenagers [who] start using inhalants annually,” Dr. H. Westley Clark, director
of the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse, said Thursday, according to Forbes.
Adolescent girls seem particularly vulnerable to inhalant abuse. According
to the report, 41 percent of hospital admissions for inhalant abuse involved
teenage girls, whereas only 30 percent of hospital admissions for non-inhalant
drug abuse involved teen girls.
Dr. Clark added that short-term effects of inhalants include dizziness,
nausea, confusing and lack of coordination. They can also cause neurological damage,
along with sudden death from cardiac reactions or lack of oxygen. An exact
number of adolescent dying from inhalants is not known though.
“Once kids start using inhalants, they are more susceptible to using other
drugs like marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine as they age. Inhalants can
produce psychological effects, but because they're readily accessible they are
substitutes for other drugs,” Dr. Clark said.
He urged parents to be aware that preteens and young teenagers are at risk
for using inhalants, just as older teens are, and they should be discussing these
issues with their children.
“Parents should be able to clearly explain that inhalants are not drugs of
abuse, but deadly poisons that while they may produce an effect also produce
unintended consequences,” Dr. Clark said.
The studies also found that forty five percent of teens who used inhalants suffer
from psychiatric disorders, compared with 29 percent of teens who used other
drugs.
