March 20, 2005
National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW)
is March 20-26
Inhalant use is typically not a concern for most parents,
as use of alcohol and marijuana are much more predominant.
However, in Illinois, 4.2 percent of 8th graders have used
Inhalants in the past 30 days, whereas in Will County, 6.0
percent of 8th graders report using Inhalants in the past
30 days (Illinois Youth Survey, 2002). Inhalants are a very
real cause for concern, and parents should talk to their
children about the dangers of inhalants at an early age.
Developmentally, pre-adolescents and adolescents are risk
takers. There are plenty of ways for teens and pre-teens
to take risks in healthy ways; sports, academic achievement,
and hobbies. However, there are also lots of dangerous activities
our kids can find themselves involved in if we as parents
aren't careful to monitor their free time and their friends.
One of those dangerous activities is use of inhalants, or "huffing". "Huffing" is
the abuse of household products in order to get a "high".
It is also one of those unusual illicit activities that more
males than females engage in and peaks in 8th grade, declining
in later years. Recent statistics state that one in five
students in America has used an inhalant to get high by the
time he or she reaches the eighth grade.
Common products used as inhalants include: Adhesives model
airplane glue, rubber cement, household glue Aerosols (spray
paint, hairspray, air freshener, deodorant, fabric protector),
Solvents and gases (nail polish remover, paint thinner, type
correction fluid and thinner, toxic markers, pure toluene,
cigar lighter fluid, gasoline, carburetor cleaner, octane
booster), Cleaning agents (dry cleaning fluid, spot remover,
degreaser) Food products (vegetable cooking spray, dessert
topping spray (whipped cream), whippets), Gases (nitrous
oxide, butane, propane, helium), Anesthetic (nitrous oxide,
ether, chloroform), Amyl ("Poppers," "Snappers" Butyl "Rush," "Locker
room," "Bolt," "Climax," also marketed
in head shops as "video head cleaner"). Some other
important facts to know include:
- Inhalants are often first substance used before marijuana
and cocaine. In fact, inhalant use often appears before
onset of tobacco or alcohol use
- Experimental use takes place in late childhood & early
adolescence, use patterns are short lived, with cessation
in late adolescence
- Chronic use appears in early & late adolescence
- Users can get high several times over a short period
because inhalants are short acting with a rapid onset and
inhalants are attractive to children who don't like delayed
gratification
- Young people involved with inhalant abuse are likely
to participate in other illegal activities like theft and
burglary and can be more disruptive, deviant or delinquent
than other drug users
- Inhalant abusers are predominately white with minority
involvement concentrated in American and Canadian Native
American Indians, and low income Hispanics
- There is a common link between inhalant use and problems
in school -- failing grades, chronic absences and general
apathy. Other signs include the following:
- Paint or stains on body or clothing
- Spots or sores around the mouth
- Red or runny eyes or nose
- Chemical breath odor
- Drunk, dazed or dizzy appearance
- Nausea, loss of appetite
- Anxiety, excitability, irritability
- The user can also suffer from Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome.
The user can die the 1st, 10th or 100th time he or she
uses an inhalant
For more information on inhalant abuse, what to look for
or what to do to help your child, visit http://www.inhalants.org and http://www.theantidrug.com
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