B ROLL Common household items that can be abused as inhalants	OVERVIEW: Approximately 10 to 15-percent of youth report having used inhalants to get high at some time in their life. Inhalant abuse may seem like youthful experimentation to some, but it can lead to very serious health consequences or death, even the first time they are used. Dr. David Rosen, Chief of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Michigan Health System, discusses inhalant abuse, and makes some suggestions on when and how parents should talk with their kids about the dangers of inhalants.
David Rosen, MD, MPH Chief, Adolescent Medicine Department of Pediatrics University of Michigan Health System	DAVID ROSEN, MD, MPH: Inhalant abuse [01:33:31] When parents think about drugs, often times they’re thinking about things like marijuana, cocaine, heroine, pills and things like that. Inhalants are a drug that younger kids use because they’re readily available, they’re convenient, they’re easy to find, they’re around the house. Kids get high from using them and kids perceive them as being relatively safe, and they’re almost invisible. Parents frequently don’t know that the kids are using these substances until something terrible happens or until it’s discovered, often quite inadvertently. [01:34:02] (:31)
	[01:34:06] Inhalants are things that are found around the house and they’re characterized really by the route of use; they’re inhaled rather than belonging to any particular class of drugs. So they include things like cleaning fluids and shoe polish and glue and air fresheners, things we would find in any of our homes. [01:34:23] (:17)
	Effects and dangers of inhalants [01:34:33] ... many of the inhalants function like depressants to the central nervous system, so they act like alcohol on the brain. They make you sleepy, they make you dopey, they make you disoriented, they make you drowsy. The effects are very short-lived. They go away very quickly and then kids will use them again. [01:34:51] (:18)
	[01:34:56] Longer-term, the substances can have a large number of effects on the body. They can affect the brain, they can affect the liver, they can affect the heart, they can affect the muscles. I think one of the concerns that we have is that chronic use of inhalants can affect the central nervous system, can affect the brain, and we have some evidence to show that they can cause chronic brain damage. [01:35:16] (:20)
	[01:35:21] A major concern is something called the sudden sniffing death syndrome. So kids, even the very first time they use inhalants, can irritate the heart in such a way that a heart rhythm can become abnormal and kids can actually die, sudden death on the spot from the use of the inhalant. It’s unpredictable and, as it turns out, one in five kids who die from this sudden sniffing death syndrome are using inhalants for the very first time. [01:35:49] (:28)
	Who is most likely to abuse inhalants [01:35:59] ...approximately 10-percent to 15-percent of kids will tell us that they have tried inhalants at some time in their life. [01:36:07] (:08)
	[01:36:12] The kids who use inhalants tend to be younger teenagers. They tend to be male. They tend to be kids who don’t have a lot of experience with other drugs... [01:36:21] (:09)
	[01:36:26] ... and they tend to come from higher risk backgrounds – depression, family dysfunction, low socioeconomic status, poor school performance, other things that we know to be risk factors for substance use. [01:36:38] (:12)
	[01:36:43] Inhalants certainly have many of the properties of addictive substances, either physically or psychologically. People who use inhalants often will continue to use them. And again, those risk factors that lead up to the use of inhalants may go on to lead to the use of other drugs as well, as kids get older and find themselves in settings where inhalants are no longer the drugs of choice but other drugs are drugs of choice instead. [01:37:06] (:23)
	Detecting inhalant abuse in children & adolescents [01:37:16] Parents are often not aware that kids are using inhalants and unfortunately, the clues that kids might be using inhalants are quite subtle. One of the things that often prompts parents to worry about this is if they find substances in their child’s room unexpectedly. Why would a can of gasoline be in the bedroom? Why is air freshener under the bed? Sometimes kids will smell of the things that they inhale. [01:37:40] (:24)
	[01:37:46] Some kids who are using inhalants regularly will develop a rash around their nose or around their mouth from the use of the inhalants. But I think one of the more important things for parents to look for are changes in behavior, changes in school performance, changes in grooming, changes in hygiene, changes in friends, things that might alert the parents that something is going on with their kid. [01:38:08] (:22)
	[01:38:14] Because inhalants can have such serious health consequences, including death the first time they’re used, this is not a substance that kids ought to be experimenting with and I don’t think that this is a substance that parents ought to be complacent about if they suspect or know that their kids are using them. [01:38:29] (:15)
	[01:38:34] If parents are concerned that their children might be using inhalants the first thing to do is ask about it. Even if their children deny it, if their suspicions are strong, I think it’s worth a visit to their primary health care provider so that the health care provider can have another opportunity in a different setting, perhaps confidentially, to talk with that child and find out whether or not the inhalants or something else might be being used. [01:38:59] (:25)
	[01:39:04] It’s the responsibility of parents to talk with their kids about inhalants. I think it needs to be done at an early age, 10, 11, 12 years old before kids are likely to encounter these substances amongst peers and in social situations. I think it’s unlikely that parents are going to somehow give this idea to their kids. If kids are going to be at risk for substance abuse, they’re at risk. Talking about it at home in a values-oriented way I don’t think puts kids at risk. I would encourage parents to be informed about inhalants so that the information that they’re providing is accurate. [01:39:36] (:32)