Inhalant abuse down? Not so fast…

A new U.S. government report has found that fewer teens than ever are using inhalant chemicals in order to get high. Sadly, "fewer" is defined by about half of a one percent drop.

I recently told you about the dangerous trend of kids using inhalants such as glue, hair spray, nail polish, gasoline, lighter fluid, paint solvents, and aerosol sprays as their cheap and available introduction to the world of drugs. This study shows that more than 17 percent of kids who are drug users got their start by inhaling standard household products.

But as always when it comes to kids and drugs, there's some bad news mixed in with the good. Though inhalant use is declining, fewer adolescents believe that inhaling these products once or twice can be harmful to their health. And believe me: nothing could be farther from the truth.

According to Ed Jurith, the acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, "Parents have a responsibility to be careful about how they store these common household products and to take the time to talk to their teens about the serious dangers associated with inhalant abuse."

Often, inhaling household chemicals can result in what's known as "sudden sniffing death" from cardiac arrest. The dangers of trying illegal narcotics even once may be trumpeted repeatedly to our youth, but obviously kids aren't getting the picture that inhalants are just as dangerous.

"Among youth, perception is reality," says Harvey Weiss, who as the executive director of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition is an expert on the topic. "If parents do not perceive the dangers and their children dismiss them, there will be more tragedy and more youngsters who will die from sudden sniffing death or become addicted to ihalants."

The problem is larger than inhalants, unfortunately.

In recent months, I've told you about other disturbing new government statistics revealing that approximately 3.1 million people between ages 12 and 25 have used over-the-counter cough medicine to get high.

And though the number of inhalant-using 12-to-17-year-olds in the survey dipped over the past year, the level of inhalant abuse or addiction did not decline. Which just goes to show that once this nasty habit takes hold, it can be as tough to shake as any of the big time street narcotics.

The easy-to-obtain nature of these goods surely plays into the fact that they're so widely abused. But what's the answer? Do parents really need to go as far as keeping common household solvents under lock and key? Does the cleaning closet need a deadbolt? It seems crazy.

Weiss acknowledges that this sort of preventative measure could be impossible, but says that other oft-abused inhalants could be better controlled. "We can put access to air conditioner refrigerants under lock and key to remove temptation from unsuspecting young people," he said.

Hmmm … it's hard to imagine anyone other than a desperate inhalant junkie stooping to the level of scrounging for refrigerant coolant in order to get high. But Weiss's point is well taken, and the International Code Council does indeed recommend that locking caps be put on all outside refrigerant access points.