Tweens Favor Inhalants To Get High

Study Shows Youngsters Use Inhalants As "Gateway" To Other Illicit Drugs

(WebMD)  A newly released federal government report points to an alarming trend - that preteens and young teens who use drugs chose inhalants as a "gateway" drug to other illicit drugs.

The findings released at the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition's latest news conference reveal that among young drug users, 12- and 13-year-olds sniff common household chemicals to get high, often before moving on to marijuana or abusing pain pills.

"Inhalants are everywhere in the house and garage, and parents often do not realize that the glue and paint are not being used for crafts or science projects," H. Westley Clark, MD says in a news release. Clark is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Statistics director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

According to Clark's prepared statements, "while the data show that often children move away from using inhalants as they grow older, they often move on to other illicit drugs. Inhalants are a health hazard that can damage the brain, heart, liver, or kidneys." Clark warns parents that inhalants can "cause severe damage and even death."

The report looked at national survey results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health of adolescents aged 12 to 17 done from 2002 to 2006. The combined data showed that an annual average of 593,000 adolescents had used inhalants for the first time in the year before the survey. Twenty-one percent surveyed say they used an illicit drug in the past year.

Among the youngest surveyed, aged 12 or 13, inhalants were the most reported class of illicit drug used in the past year. Marijuana was the most-used class of illicit drug among the older teens, with use of pain relievers in second. Rate of inhalant use in the past year went up from age 12 to 14 (3.4% to 5.3%), but then decreased by age 17 (3.9%).

Shoe polish, glue, and toluene were the most-used inhalants in adolescents aged 12 to 15.

There is concern that young people are not taking the risks of inhalants seriously, according to study authors. "While teens are increasingly aware of the dangers of illicit street drugs, they continue to underestimate the risks of abusing products that can be found in the home, like inhalants and prescription and over-the-counter medications," Stephen J. Pasierb, president of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, said during a news conference.

Pasieb offered these tips for parents:

• Be aware of which products can be abused.


• Keep track of potentially dangerous products in the home.


• Talk to your children about the risks of inhalant abuse.

Related Study Looks at Kids in Treatment for Drug Abuse

Here are the findings for a related federal government study looking at youngsters who get treated for substance abuse.

• 45% of those who abused inhalants also have psychiatric disorders, compared with 29% who abused other drugs.



• 12- to 17-year-olds made up 8% of substance abuse treatment admissions in 2006, but they made up nearly half of all admissions who say they used inhalants.



• 41% of teenage girls admitted to drug treatment centers involved inhalants; 30% of those admitted did not report inhalants.

---

On The Early Show Friday, Jordan Paul, 17, who started using inhalants at 14 and is now in rehab, and Carrie Wilkens, a psychologist specializing in addiction, spoke with co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez about the dangers of young teens using inhalants.

Paul, who is from Ohio, used a series of inhalants -- gasoline, hair spray, cleaning supplies -- whatever was available. He is being treated for addiction at Pathway Family Center in Milford, Ohio.

TO SEE A SUMMARY OF THE INHALANTS REPORT, AND FOR LINKS TO THE REPORT ITSELF AND A WEALTH OF OTHER, RELATED RESOURCES, CLICK HERE.

To see the Early Show segment, click here.

[honestabe8]

but not spell too well.

[honestabe8]

michelle: people use drugs because it makes them feell good.

[michellem99-2009]

Can''t they use the word pre teen. That is what they are. 10,11,12 are pre teens. What was what I was called, a teen 13 thru 19, Adult 20 on.

[Wookiee-1138]

Oh please. When I was that age we snorted Jello powder to get high.

[michellem99-2009]

It is the dumbing down and it will get worse. In our day we were taught common sense,manners,right from wrong. Newster1 Amen..As a legally blind I have to use icons on packages. It is the sighted that are the scarish..Bush as well..He was a drunk got a DUI in Maine at 40.

[nothappyatall]

is it just me or does it seem we are creating these kids who have no common sense? It seems to me, back in the 70s and 80s, tweens/teens just had more maturity and

Posted by olebd "

I call it the dumbing-down of America, the result of the foolish school policy I call ''no idiot left behind'', we have kids who cant even find the PANHANDLE STATE of Florida on a blank outline map of the USA, who drink drain cleaner or something out of a gallon jug under the sink because its the same color as cool-aid and they were too stupid to know the difference.
These are the ones who will be flying your airplane, driving your bus, building your car, house, assembling your pacemaker someday or injecting your meds int he hospital!

scary isnt it? thse who couldnt find their way out of a paper bag flying your next airplane trip- hope it wont be your LAST one because the pilot mistook .10 for 10, or your nurse mistook the dose of your critical IV meds as 1 cc instead of .1 cc

[michellem99-2009]

It is sad that adults will place them in programs that don''t work. The right thing is as a family deal with this as a family. No they rather get the kid out of their hair by sending them off somewhere. Who know may be the parents are the sniffers and not the kid.

[wdtony]

Inhalants are bad for us, I think we all agree that they are very dangerous. There is no such thing as a gateway drug though, this is a fabrication and a scare tactic. I was placed in a facility for drug abuse but the funny thing was, I didn''t abuse drugs at all (my parents were convinced by the program that I was though). I was forced to lie about all the drugs I had done to progress in the program, one of these drugs I had to confess to using was inhalants (Lie). There was no other means of getting out without total compliance. I was brainwashed in this facility which is now called Pathway Family Center, as mentioned above. Don''t believe the success stories you hear from these kids, I lied about it because I was brainwashed and forced to do so, who really knows who had a drug problem and who didn''t. I am always very skeptical when I hear the success stories. I would like to reiterate that I think inhalant use is very dangerous and that kids should be better educated about the health risks. Parents should not suspect drug abuse or criminalize their kids for making stupid decisions because they are trying to grow up in a flawed and complicated society. My best advice: PLEASE DO NOT PLACE YOUR KIDS IN PROGRAMS! Don''t believe that this is the only thing that can save your kid''s life, this is a lie. In the long run, programs tear families apart.

Write me at: programtruth "at" hotmail.com

[neoconslayer]

The only gateway drugs are alcohol and tobacco.
These are two substances which:
1) are common in American households
2) kids are told are ''dangerous'', usually by people who are using them.
Inhalants, marijuana, and all the others tend to not
1) be available for sale at the grocery store
2) not be common in American households

These things are problems in America, however, it doesn''t help to solve a problem when it is lied about for political/economic reasons.
These are not gateway drugs.

[hypnotoad72]

The heck is a "tween"? Sounds like a bird''s spleen on a plate.

I''ve heard of a "twink", and I hope that doesn''t apply here!!

[michellem99-2009]

This is not an issue to joked about or taken lightly. I use to make cord rosaries for the mission. I had to cut the cord and coat the ends with clear nail polsh and it had an oder that I HATED so used the bonded. That worked.
I was 13,when teacher brought up gule in a bag and a stutudent was a sniffer.
I DON''T understand the wanting to get HIGH or STONED. Adults can yak about this issue til the cows come home . They tune us out.
They do illegal drugs to run away from what is real. Most FEEL hopeless and no future. Parents can lock the cleaning items up but the kid will buy it. I have never understood the mindset of a drug user. Vince lost his youngest brother to drugs. That brother went to prisom over it. He was killed in a car wreck. That was before I met Vince. His brother was born in 54 the same as I.

[honestabe8]

rushman: spark it up, dude.

it may be hard getting young people to take warnings about inhalants seriously because they know they have been lied to ad naseum about pot. just another gift from the hypocrisy of our prohibitionists.

[incolorado]

Listen I lost my brother back in the 1970''s to inhalant abuse. Its obviously been around and available to the teenage world for a long time! We need to communicate with our children more often & totally honest with them that this WILL KILL YOU... Its only a matter of when. Losing a close member of my family to such. This is to the revdanbar poster! Any parent with children would be stupid to even acknowledge pot smoking as a safer alternative!There is no safer drug or poison alternative! Period.. We need to get our kids minds involved in some thing healthy instead. Sports ect. we need to also take more time out for them to give them a true meaning in life. We need to talk to them more and tell them just where it is! We need to love them more! And get there minds into thinking different things. Try keeping them busy with other things. Spend more time.

[Syndicate]

Given a choice in the matter I would rather my kids smoke pot rather than experement with inhalants. As far as I know no one has ever over dosed on pot. I know some pot heads have died from lung cancer after 30 years of smoking everyday and others have died in alcohol involved car accidents. Several children die everday from inhalants.

[dopelgangera]

Laws have been tightened for over-the-counter cold remedies used to make meth. But, new laws can only solve so many problems, Maybe parents could buy locking cabinets with code numbers so only parents can type in the numbers to open the cabinet. BUT, isn''t this just treating symptoms? WHY are so many young people doing this? Something MORE needs to be done, beyond just preventing specific behaviors from happening.

[priusskipper-2009]

Refrigerant is another source of inhalant and a very serious one. My brother inhaled the Freon from a car and this caused his heart to cramp, rendering CPR useless, and him to die. He did not abuse any other drugs that I knew of. Please consider this if you are constantly recharging you A/C units and you can not find any leaks.

[olebd]

Is it just me or does it seem we are creating these kids who have no common sense? It seems to me, back in the 70''s and 80''s, tweens/teens just had more maturity and even though they may have experimented with certain drugs (and ***) it was more relaxed and subdued. Are we creating kids today because there are too many rules and no way for them to learn consequences from doing stupid things? Just a thought and of course, just my humble opinion.

[rushman71]

Is this a moronic society or what? It is legal to buy paint thinner at a local Home Depot but the using it as a drug kills. It is illegal to smoke pot but there is not one shred of evidence that it could do any bodily harm what so ever.
Wake up, America!!! Legalize Marijuana!!! For a safer, peaceful world!!!

[suzannep1972]

"About two-thirds agreed that inhalants can kill,though the figure was down nearly 20% from five years ago, concluded a tracking survey published by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America."
The above quote is from another article in your cluster of drug articles on teens. One of the many things that you are not realizing is that those statistics are coming from sources that are way less than credible. The Drug Free American foundation(DFAF) was started by Melvin& Betty Sembler, who ran a drug treatment program during the 1980''s by the name of Straight Incorporated. Straight closed down after many allegations of abuse. In those treatment programs for teens the Sembler''s along with others involved deliberately coerced false confessions about drug abuse out of children to inflate "drug usage" and also "success rates of treatment".
I am not advocating for teen drug use. I am rather advocating for real facts that are not for profit. Melvin & Betty Sembler to this day still brag about their involvement with Straight Incorporated and it''s spin-offs. If ye would like a real story please let''s do that and get to at least part of the truth to the drug war,and quit demonizing youngsters who go through a normal experimentation phase as teenagers do.
CBSnews team: If you would like to do a story on what I have mentioned above, you have my email address.
Websites
isaccorp.org
thestraights.com
google Melvin Sembler,DFAF,Kids Helping Kids

[fettkonserv]

This question should be addressed. Why do kids want to do drugs? They know Inhalants are dangerous. The answer is "They Have No Future"