NMS Use Drops 43 Percent—

Newtown Bucking National Inhalant Trend

By John Voket

The decreasing use of inhalants among younger Newtown students to get high defies a national trend — a trend so evident that it has spurred the state and the governor into action. Responding to a resurgence in “tweens” inhaling household and commercial products, the Connecticut Inhalant Task Force is offering a free and anonymous online course for parents to learn about the signs and dangers.

In addition to the task force’s launching of the web-based parent training, Governor M. Jodi Rell recently proclaimed March 16–22 Inhalants Awareness Week, where she began urging greater understanding of the use and risks of inhalants. An estimated 1.1 million 12–17-year-olds are participating in this potentially life-threatening practice, according to a 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Highly toxic, inhalants often serve as a precursor to other substance abuse and can be fatal on the first try. The good news locally is, the latest survey of public school students shows the “ever use” category has dipped at each grade level between 2005 and 2007.

Since 2005, use of inhalants by seventh and eighth graders in Newtown dropped almost 43 percent, and is more than 60 percent below the national trend. The drop in use at the ninth and tenth grade level, as well as the eleventh and twelfth grade levels is less distinct, but still measurable at 12.6 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively.

The study shows, however, that use among eleventh and twelfth graders still exceeds the national usage figure quoted in the Newtown survey by 7.5 percent. And according to the local survey, despite the declining “ever use” trend among middle schoolers against national stats, recent use of inhalants is actually rising at the middle school level and dropping at the high school level.

More specifically, the local survey states that 2.7 percent of seventh and eighth graders and 1.1 percent of eleventh and twelfth graders reporting using inhalants “three or more days in the past month.”

“These are all legal, readily available products that are often overlooked by parents,” said Connecticut Inhalant Task Force Chairperson Marlene F. McGann. “Parents readily think of the dangers of toddlers getting into containers and sprays under the cabinet. But the threat doesn’t necessarily end when they outgrow that stage. Unaware of the extent of the risks, preteens and adolescents are experimenting, endangering their health and their lives. We want to provide parents with the information they need so they know what to look for.”

Also known as “huffing” or “bagging,” inhalant use is the deliberate breathing or sniffing of highly concentrated fumes from sprays, liquids, and gases commonly found in offices, homes, and garages for their intoxicating effect. After a period of decline and plateau, substance abuse experts, schools, and parents have seen an increase in the reports of inhalant abuse among middle school students, where initiation often begins.

Used by more 12- and 13-year-olds than any other illicit drug, the highly dangerous practice has been known to occur in children as young as 9. The 2005 Connecticut School Health Survey found that more than 11 percent of high school students have tried inhalants at least once.

“We encourage parents to be educated about the harms of these substances and to talk early and often to their children about the risks,” said Jill Spineti, president and chief executive officer of the Governor’s Prevention Partnership. “It is important for parents to emphasize to their children that inhalants are not drugs, but poisons and toxins.”

Inhalants pose an array of severe consequences from sudden sniffing death to long-term brain and organ damage. Parents who suspect their children are using inhalants should be alert for changes in their child’s attitudes and interests, decline in school performance, disoriented or dazed appearance, slurred speech, and chemical odors on their clothes, breath, or backpack.

Other signs are red spots or sores around the nose and/or mouth; empty lighters, spray cans, or households containers; and rags or plastic bags with chemical odors.

Members of the Newtown Prevention Council, which partners with the Governor’s Prevention Partnership on the Newtown school survey, recognized that “focused efforts seem to have had some success in the reduction of inhalant use in the middle school,” which was identified in 2005 as one of two major concerns, along with binge drinking, at the high school level.

“We recommend that we continue these focused efforts as well as implementing new initiatives to address the above concerns,” the 2007 survey analysis states. “We encourage all sectors to work together cooperatively with a consistent message.”

Parents who may suspect inhalant use, or who want to learn more about the issue are invited to use the state resources available.

The Connecticut Inhalant Task Force was started in 2004 by the Meriden and Wallingford Substance Abuse Council and the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Partners in the task force now include the Governor’s Prevention Partnership and 35 state and local organizations.

Its members include treatment counselors, experts in prevention and poison control, health officials, and police officers. Parents can take the online training on inhalant abuse at www.inhalantabusetraining.org.

For more information, visit www.ctinhalanttaskforce.org or email ctinhalantinfo@aol.com.