Inhalant use rising among 8th-graders

Nearly one in five eighth-graders said they have attempted to get high by inhaling potentially toxic vapors such as those found in glue, gasoline, paint thinner, butane lighters, nail polish remover and aerosol sprays.

In a nationwide survey conducted at 147 schools, about 17.3% of 17,413 eighth-graders said they had tried sniffing such substances. The anonymous questionnaires, collected last year by University of Michigan researchers, showed the second consecutive surge in the abuse rate -- up from 15.3% in 2003 -- after a 40% decline following a campaign in the mid-’90s against the solvents’ dangers.

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funds the annual survey, said last week that the government agency was launching a new campaign to alert children and parents of the dangers of the “silent epidemic.” The inhalant abuse can cause instant death by triggering cardiac arrhythmias and asphyxiation. It also can cause blindness, neuropathy and harm to major bodily organs.

“For whatever reason, the perception of the drugs as risky has decreased in younger kids,” Volkow said of the report, initially released in December.

The inhalants primarily are used by sixth- to eighth-graders, who are more likely to graduate to other drugs as they get older. The abuse is particularly difficult to detect because the solvents don’t show up in urine or blood tests.

Volkow said parents and teachers should watch for smelly or stained clothes, as well as discoloration and dryness around the child’s nails and mouth, erratic behavior, and abnormal accumulations of substance containers in the trash or a child’s room.