GETTING HIGH - AND RISKING YOUR LIFE - ON THE CHEAP

December 26, 2004 -- Computer keyboard cleaner, lighter fluid and
nail polish are among the seemingly harmless products used by
teenagers for a quick, cheap high known as "huffing," say health officials.

Despite the serious health risks, the practice has shot up more than
40 percent among sixth-graders and almost 20 percent among
eighth-graders, a study this year by the Partnership for a Drug-Free
America found.

And law enforcement has not caught up to the trend.

"There's no field test for huffing," said Isabel Burk, director of
Health Network, a Rockland County firm that has trained local and
state police personnel on inhalant abuse.

Burk said chemicals in inhalants leave the body after a few hours and
are not detected in standard blood or urine tests. She said labs must
run expensive tests for specific chemicals to determine whether
someone has been huffing.

But most cops aren't trained to recognize the signs of huffing, and so
don't order the tests.

New York law is ambiguous on huffing. Some chemicals are listed as
illegal in the statutes, but others aren't.

Dr. Lawrence Kobilinksy, a John Jay College of Criminal Justice
professor, says that "unless you know what you're looking for, you're
not going to find it."

The results of lax enforcement can be dire.

At least 100 deaths per year result from the "silent epidemic" of
inhalant abuse, said Harvey Weiss, executive director of the National
Inhalant Prevention Coalition.