EDUCATORS FAIL TO TEACH YOUTH ABOUT INHALANTS

This week's news that inhalant use among 12- to 17-year-olds is up is a
disturbing anomaly in an overall downward trend in national drug-use
statistics.

While government programs to dissuade young Americans from trying illegal
drugs have had mixed results, they have at least done a good job of
educating potential drug users about the dangers of such activities. But
while the work of the Office for National Drug Control Policy has centered
on gateway drugs such as marijuana, they believe lead to the use of other
substances, it appears they have neglected to inform teens and pre-teens
about the risks of inhalants.

Inhalants such as hairspray, glue and gasoline give the user a feeling of
euphoria because of a lack of oxygen in the brain, which can cause
permanent damage or even death.

Given the ease of access to such products and an ignorance of their effects
or dosage, it is no wonder more teens are using them and suffering the
consequences in the pursuit of a cheap high.

Two million Americans admitted to using inhalants in 2003, with half having
used inhalants for the first time. Eighty percent of new users were younger
than 17. Clearly, in-school efforts to scare kids out of using "harder"
substances like cocaine or heroin are working at the expense of
comprehensive efforts to educate about inhalants, which can be found in
nearly every home.

While many gateway drugs do not carry the immediate risk of death or
impairment, inhalants do. Most other substances already have a place in
American drug culture, which usually prevents new users from getting in
over their heads. Since it is impossible to prevent teenagers from having
access to the products, education is the only way to prevent young people
from experiencing neural impairment, convulsions, deafness, blindness or
dying from "huffing" inhalants.