HUFFING: CHEAP HIGHS CAN BE DEVASTATING

Some call it huffing, the deep, rapid inhalation of toxic vapors from any
number of household or industrial products in quest of a high. It is very
dangerous, always damaging, sometimes lethal. What makes it so scary is the
ease of it.

There are any number of substances in your home or available over the
counter that huffers will try, ranging from aerosol air fresheners to nail
polish removers to shoe polishes, spray paint and Freon from air
conditioners. Label warnings about fumes may be taken as a seal of approval
by the most frequent "huffers," kids ages 12-17. "Use only in a
well-ventilated area" can be seen as an invitation to run this poison up
your nose and see what happens.

Trouble is, some kids don't survive even the first jolt. This stuff can
kill you. Even casual users risk permanent brain, hearing, liver and kidney
damage.

Yet, according to a new government study, more than 12 million Americans do
it each year, and in 1998, the most recent year for which estimates are
available, a million children tried inhalants for the first time. One in
five will do so before the end of high school.

It's impossible to ban or even control all the products that people will
abuse in the never-ending, futile and destructive pursuit of the perfect
buzz. Hope lies in education, in homes, schools and on the street, peer to
peer. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is trying to
spread the word, and the industries that make and sell this stuff ought to
pitch in some resources to help.