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 Inhalant Prevention Coalition conducted studies, with sponsorship from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse, said their data indicates that 1.1 million 12-to-17-year-olds admitted to using inhalants last year. Nearly 600,000 teenagers will start using inhalants each year according to their studies. Unfortunately, inhalants can cause neurological damage or sudden death from cardiac reactions or lack of oxygen. It is unknown exactly how many adolescents die from using inhalants each year.

Dizziness, nausea, confusion, and lack of coordination are the short-term effects of using inhalants. Teens have also reported inhaling computer keyboard cleaners and then crashing their cars because they lost control.

Inhalants are chosen because they are readily accessible at home or school and the kids typically don’t pay for them. This makes them attractive to kids who want to use drugs. Children in foster care, or adopted at an older age are particularly vulnerable to this behavior. They may have previously lived with drug abuse. They may also be looking for a quick fix to feelings of confusion or anger over being adopted or losing their birth family. Forty-five percent of teens who used inhalants suffer from psychiatric disorders, compared with 29 percent of teens who used other drugs.

Kids are more susceptible to using other drugs once they start using inhalants. Of the 12 year olds surveyed, 3.4 percent reported using an inhalant, while only 1.1 percent tried marijuana, and 2.7 percent took prescription painkillers. Of the 13-year-olds surveyed, 4.8 percent had used inhalants, 4 percent had tried marijuana, and 3.9 percent were taking prescription painkillers. Then by the age 14 marijuana use became more common than inhalant use.

About one out of every five teens between 12 and 17 used illegal drugs in the past year. Of those, 45.5 percent of the 12 and 13 year olds used inhalants. A quarter of the 14 and 15 year olds used inhalants, and 12.4 of the 16 and 17 year olds used inhalants. Bottom line, parents need to know that kids are misusing household products. Kids need to be aware that these products are not drug substitutes but deadly poisons.

Photo Credit Julia Fuller 2005