Pubdate: Wed, 23 Feb 2005
Source: South Bend Tribune (IN)
Copyright: 2005 South Bend Tribune
Contact:  http://www.southbendtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/621
Author: LA Times

SNIFFING OF INHALANTS ON RISE AMONG EIGHTH-GRADERS

Our Health

Nearly one in five eighth-graders said they have attempted to get high by 
inhaling potentially toxic vapors such as those found in glue, gasoline, 
paint thinner, butane lighters, nail polish remover and aerosol sprays.

In a nationwide survey conducted at 147 schools, about 17.3 percent of 
17,413 U.S. eighth-graders said they had tried sniffing such substances. 
The anonymous questionnaires, collected last year by University of Michigan 
researchers, showed the second consecutive surge in the abuse rate -- up 
from 15.3 percent in 2003 -- after a 40 percent decline following a 
campaign in the mid-'90s against the solvents' dangers.

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which 
funds the annual survey, said recently that the government agency was 
launching a new campaign to alert children and parents of the dangers of 
the "silent epidemic." The inhalant abuse can cause instant death by 
triggering cardiac arrhythmias and asphyxiation. It also can cause 
blindness, neuropathy and harm to major bodily organs.

"For whatever reason, the perception of the drugs as risky has decreased in 
younger kids," Volkow said of the report, initially released in December.

The inhalants primarily are used by sixth-to eighth-graders, who are more 
likely to graduate to other drugs as they get older. The abuse is 
particularly difficult to detect because the solvents don't show up in 
urine or blood tests.

Volkow said parents and teachers should watch for smelly or stained 
clothes, as well as discoloration and dryness around the child's nails and 
mouth, erratic behavior, and abnormal accumulations of substance containers 
in the trash or a child's room.
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MAP posted-by: Beth