This drug is cheap and legal. It’s in your kitchen, bathroom, office, and garage. And your school-age kids know all about it.

Inhalant abuse is easy to hide from unsuspecting parents. Aerosols, fuels and solvents are poisons when concentrated and inhaled, but pre-teens and teens “sniff”, “huff”, or “bag” to get high. They usually don’t realize that a single episode of inhalant abuse, even the first episode, can be fatal almost instantly.

Commonly abused inhalants include the propellant in compressed air used to clean computer parts, or in aerosol cans of whipped cream or spray paint. Teenagers seek a “high” that can, at first, seem like alcohol intoxication. In reality, short term effects include depriving the brain, heart and other organs of oxygen. An irregular heart rhythm may develop and cause sudden death, even in healthy children. Longer term use can damage the brain, kidneys, and liver. These products can cause an addiction as difficult to treat as addiction to narcotics or cocaine.

While we might expect troubled teens to attempt this form of drug abuse, they are not the only victims. Parents’ stories are heartbreakingly similar: “He was such a good kid”; “She was a good student who had lots of friends”; “His friends said they were just fooling around.” Also heartbreakingly similar are the ends of some parents’ stories: “He drowned, even though all his friends were around”; “I found him dead in his bed, with the nozzle still in his mouth”. Five high school friends died when the driver of their car inhaled an aerosol, then crashed.

A recent study showed that 17 percent of eighth graders have abused inhalants. Yet the most parents are unfamiliar with this form of drug abuse and have never warned their children of its dangers. Parents must educate themselves to protect their children.

• Identify where products that can be abused are stored in your home. Monitor the levels of these products. How many cans of computer cleaner are really needed in your home? How many cans of spray paint or bottles of glue does your youngster really need in his room?
• Because an inhalant "high" may last for a short time, abusers repeat episodes of inhalation. There are signs if you look for them: the smell of products on their breath or clothes, slurred speech, chronic sore throats or irritation on their skin or around their mouths. These are in addition to the changes in behavior, poor performance in school, and withdrawal from family and friends that may signal other forms of substance abuse.
• When you discuss tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs with your children, discuss inhalants. An important message for children is that these chemicals are poisons, toxic substances that can kill them the first time they use them.

There are several organizations which provide information about inhalant abuse for parents and others. Here are a few:

• National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, www.inhalants.org
• National Institute on Drug Abuse, www.nida.nih.gov
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, www.samhsa.gov
• Partnership for a Drug Free America, www.drugfree.org