• The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that one in five American teens have used Inhalants to get high. 

• According to Stephen J. Pasierb, President and CEO of The Partnership for Drug-Free America, 22% of 6th and 8th graders admitted abusing inhalants and only 3% of parents think their child has ever abused inhalants. 

• An analysis of 144 Texas death certificates by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse involving misuse of inhalants found that the most frequently mentioned inhalant (35%) was Freon (51 deaths).  Of the Freon deaths, 42 percent were students or youth with a mean age of 16.4 years.

• Suffocation, inhaling fluid or vomit into the lungs, and accidents each cause about 15% of deaths linked to inhalant abuse. 

• National Institute on Drug Abuse’s ‘Monitoring the Future’ study reveals that inhalant abuse among 8th graders is up 7.7% since 2002.   

• 55% of deaths linked to inhalant abuse are caused by “Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome.”  SSDS can occur on the first use or any use.  The Inhalant causes the heart to beat rapidly and erratically, resulting in cardiac arrest. 

• 22% of inhalant abusers who died of SSDS had no history of previous inhalant abuse. In other words, they were first-time user.

• "Huffing," or inhaling volatile substances, is becoming increasingly popular among children, especially among 12- to 14-year-olds (Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 1998;152(8):781--786).

• Start talking with your child about it now. Although huffing peaks between the ages of 12 and 15 years, it often starts "innocently" in children only 6 to 8 years old (Pediatrics, 1996;97:3).

YRBSS survey results are in

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) includes a national school-based survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state, territorial, tribal, and local surveys conducted by state, territorial, and local education and health agencies and tribal governments.

The 2007 YRBSS survey concludes the following: 

• Nationwide, 13.3% (up from 12.4% in 2005) of all surveyed students had used inhalants to get high one or more times during their life (lifetime inhalant use).

• Overall use by grade was: 9th-grade (15.0%), 10th-grade (14.6%), and 11th-grade (12.5%) 12th-grade (10.2%);

• Females (14.3%) used more than males (12.4%);

• White females (15.6%) huffed more than white males (13.1%);

• 9th-grade female (17.2%) inhalant use was greater than 9th-grade male use (13.0%);

• 10th-grade female (16.6%) students huffed more 10th-grade male (12.5%) students;

• White (14.4%) and Hispanic (14.1%) inhalant use was greater than black use (8.5%);

• Use was higher among white (15.6%) and Hispanic females (15.5%) than black female (7.9%), white male (13.1%) and black male (9.2%) students; and

• Prevalence of lifetime inhalant use ranged from 9.8% to 19.2% across state surveys (median: 12.8%) and from 6.9% to 17.4% across local surveys (median: 10.0%)

For more info and to see how your state compares with other states and national averages, please visit CDC's site (http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs).