Posted on April 5, 2010

Inhalants as a means to get high are popular among adolescents. They are easy to acquire, easy to use, and provide quick results. Inhalants are ordinary household products, such as spray paint, glue or gasoline, and are legal and available to teenagers.

When an adolescent uses an inhalant, they breathe it into the nose or mouth and it is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream from the lungs. Its effects are quickly felt, though the duration is short. However, inhalants can be very dangerous, not only causing stress on breathing passages, but also causing problems for the central nervous system.

A recent study by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) examined the dynamics of inhalant use combined with the complication of suffering from a respiratory condition, such as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and sinusitis. It defined as an inhalant "liquids, sprays, and gases that people sniff or inhale to get high or to make them feel good."

The NSDUH asked respondents aged 12 years and older to give information about the use of inhalants during their lifetime, past year and past month. The adolescents were also asked to report about their history with the four respiratory conditions. The findings are from combined 2006 to 2008 NDSUH data.

Approximately 2.4 million adolescents used an inhalant during their lifetime, and 1.0 million adolescents used an inhalant in the last year, equating to 9.7 percent and 4.1 percent respectively.

Females were slightly more likely to use inhalants than males (4.3 versus 3.9 percent) and the highest number of inhalant users were aged 14 or 15 years old. Asians and blacks were less likely than other races to have used inhalants in the past year.

13.5 percent of all respondents indicated that they had been told by a doctor that they suffered at least one of the following respiratory conditions: asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and sinusitis.

There was no difference in respiratory conditions between genders and the results were also consistent between age groups. Rates of respiratory conditions were higher, however, with respondents that were of two or more races.

Approximately 143,000 respondents, or 0.6 percent, had both used inhalants and had a respiratory condition in the past year. 1 in 20 adolescents who had reported at least one respiratory condition also had used an inhalant in the past year.
The most commonly used inhalants by those with at least one respiratory condition were glue shoe polish or toluene, gasoline or lighter fluid, and spray paints.
Because inhalants are legal and easy to access, it is important to understand the risks associated with using them to get high among U.S. adolescents who also have a respiratory condition. Though their effects are rapid and fade quickly, they can be very dangerous and even lethal.