Last week, the media was filled with headlines like "Sniffing Trumps Weed for 12 Year Olds," (CBS) and "Inhalant Abuse a Deadly Middle-School Concern," (U.S. News and World Report/HealthDay). The stories came out of a Washington press conference touting news from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that inhalants are more popular with junior high kids than marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogens combined.
Sadly, the same headlines in the 1950's and 60's produced more--not less--inhalant abuse. In fact, the headline on this article is the title of the chapter on the subject from a book written way back in 1972, the classic "Licit and Illicit Drugs," by the editors of Consumer Reports. The chapter, which is online here, illustrates how increases in media coverage preceded rises in local use of inhalants.
The same phenomenon was seen again in the late 1990's with the drug Oxycontin. News accounts about a "deadly new high" appeared first--followed by jumps in use and deaths.
The combination of a potentially deadly high and children will probably always be catnip for the media. But, in the case of inhalants, they never seem to ask why inhalants are the only drugs whose popularity declines as preteens become teenagers and young adults.
Inhalant use is rare in adults--and virtually unheard of among those who aren't living in abject poverty or suffering from severe mental illness. What could account for this? Why would these substances only be popular among little kids, the mentally ill and poor people?
Basically, inhalants--with the exception of nitrous oxide and "poppers"--aren't even really drugs. They don't produce a true "high"--instead, the experience is primarily one of what most people would consider negative "side effects" like dizziness, loss of motor control, nausea and headache.
Most of the effects, in fact, are similar to those from oxygen deprivation--it's not even clear what pharmacological action is involved in producing consciousness change, though the substances used can definitely cause brain damage and death. A non-experienced drug user--like one in junior high--might find the inhalant experience interesting. A poor person might resort to it in desperation.
Someone who can afford and access real drugs like alcohol and marijuana, however, is going to quickly choose them instead. If inhalants actually produced a genuine, addictive experience, we'd expect kids to start on them and stay with them, given that they are cheap, legal and readily available. But that's not what happens--as kids get older, the ones who like getting high overwhelmingly choose marijuana, cigarettes, alcohol or other drugs instead.
Rather than "raising awareness" of the deadly nature of inhalants, we should instead raise awareness of the lousy high involved, perhaps failing to characterize it as a high at all. Inhalants basically produce the experience of brain damage-- not a specific, pharmacological result.
That might not be a popular message with those who want anti-drug campaigns to oppose all use--but it's more likely to work to discourage a potentially fatal and brain-destroying practice among people who are so desperate to escape that they will use virtually anything.
The fact that people seeking escape will resort to things like inhalants--or even choking each other, as the recent reports on the "choking game" suggest-- should also make us think carefully about "supply side" efforts to fight drugs. Among those at real risk for addiction, the desire to get high precedes access to drugs--and getting rid of any particular type of drug isn't going to change this.
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Inhalants have been called a gateway drug because abusers often progress from inhalant abuse to alcohol and illegal drug abuse. This may attribute to the slight decline of inhalant abuse among older people, although there are still many adults who continue to abuse inhalants or eventually return to it at some time in the future.
The bottom line is, we are working reduce accessibility to a great product that is sadly being misused and are educating parents, so that they in turn can help their children.
Mona Casey
UPROAR
Although prevalent among pre-teens and teenagers, huffing affects people as early as 5 years old (http://www.fortcampbellcourier.com/news/article_f88db5b4-27d9-11df-8d14-001cc4c03286.html) and well into the 40s (http://www.wtsp.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=39539) in all social and economical class. It does not discriminate against social and/or economical status, age, race, intelligence, or any other factor. Even good, healthy, smart people make bad choices.
The reason it is so important to educate the public about inhalants is because the consequences of inhaling them can be severe and swift. Even the first use can result in death. This is a risk we cannot take with our children.
You are right, most inhalants are not drugs, they are poison -- and poison must be kept out of children’s reach. It is for this reason that we at the United Parents to Restrict Open Access to Refrigerant have launched a campaign to secure refrigerant from unauthorized access. With this campaign we hope to achieve two objectives, 1) to help prevent injuries and deaths resulting from exposure (both intentionally and unintentionally) to refrigerant and 2) help reduce greenhouses gases in the atmosphere. It is not possible to secure everything that can be misused as drugs, but in situations where something should not be accessible to the public and can easily be secured, it is prudent to be proactive.
As a parent of a 15 year old who died of inhalant (refrigerant) experimentation, I can attest that there is not enough awareness out there. I, like most parents I know, was unaware of such a phenomenon until it was too late. In fact, what struck me the most about the whole thing was that so many kids know about huffing, yet so many parents were (and many are still) unaware of this dangerous trend. I believe that it is every parent’s desire and duty to keep their children safe, but how can they keep their children safe from something they know nothing about? I knew then I had to do something to help. There’s nothing I can do to bring my son back, but if I can help spare another family from grieving the loss a life taken too soon, I would have done my job. My goal for bringing public awareness to this issue is to educate parents about something their kids more likely already know something about. We do this by pointing out the deadly nature of inhalants and by explaining that what is being construed as intoxication is in fact oxygen deprivation that can cause permanent brain damage, sudden sniffing death, heart failure, and even death...
This article is couched in some truth. Inhalants ought not be considered drugs but toxins, chemicals and poisons. When legal products or chemicals are intentionally misused and abused they can create a mind altering experience, a “high,†they are addictive and they can be fatal, even at first time experimentation. It is untrue that “inhalant use is rare among adults and virtually unheard of among those who aren’t living in abject poverty or suffering from severe mental illness.†Ask the family of an addicted person or the family who lost a cherished one see http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/news/2010/mar/18/isenberg-speaks-out-dangers-huffing.
The goal of raising awareness about the “deadly nature of inhalants†is key to preventing inhalant use . Without data, resources and the media, how can this message get to those who make the choice of using or not using, especially consequences, intended and unintended, of this choice? How do adults get the accurate information to talk with someone about inhalant dangers? How do we get the attention of the public to answer these questions? These are reasons for the establishment of our National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW) public health campaign and genesis of our press conference supported of SAMHSA. see http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/sudden-sniffing-death-syndrome-kills-t
HarveyWeiss
NIPC
800/269 - 4237
nipc@io.com http://www.inhalants.org
I laugh and laugh when I see how much time and effort goes into fighting it (meanwhile the kids can get it easier than anyone) only to have kids choke each other and sniff paint.
The War on Drugs is a such a dismal failure that I question whether humans are THAT much more evolved than apes.