Today’s children who are becoming teenagers are using inhalants more often than marijuana or prescription drugs. A new government report shows that inhaling common household products is the preferred way to get high for those becoming teenagers. According to health officials, household products like shoe polish, glue, aerosol air fresheners, hair sprays, nail polish, paint solvents, degreasers, gasoline, and lighter fluid are all possibilities for getting high. The results of the study were presented on Thursday at the National Press club in Washington, D.C. The National... more

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, knows that many teenagers are doing, what they shouldn’t be doing. They combined the data on a number of surveys, including the National Survey on Drug Use, which uses in-depth interviews of more than 60,000 people, to arrive at the following shocking data about teenagers in the U.S.A. Today for the first time in their lives: nearly 8,000 adolescents drank alcohol, 4,300 adolescents used an illicit drug, 4,000 smoked cigarettes,... more

An article in Reuters Health on October 16, 2007 by Joene Hendry indicated that there is a link between incarcerated teenagers attempting suicide and huffing or bagging. I don’t know about you, but when I read, the word huffing it made me think of asthma and the Three Little Pigs story. When I read the word bagging, I thought about the person bagging my groceries at the store. However, in the world of the teenager both huffing and bagging, refer to inhaling household... more

Dear Rabbit,

My precious daughter, were you too young, when you came to live with us, to remember why you couldn’t stay with your mom and dad? Seven years old is quite young, and you hadn’t lived with your parents for two years prior to coming to our family, so perhaps you don’t remember what it was like.

I hesitate to remind you, because I hate to reopen an old wound and cause you pain. However, I feel that I must, in an effort to save you before it is too late. You may think that I am being silly and overreacting; because you know,... more