Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse - Archives - National Institute on ...

use beginning in 1987 when the survey was first used to assess drug use
<strong>of</strong> large numbers <strong>of</strong> youth across the country. According to this survey,
between one in eight and one in nine seniors have tried inhalants, but
only 2 percent have used them in the last month. As noted above,
because the questions are slightly different, the rates <strong>of</strong> use for seniors are
slightly lower than those from the Monitoring the Future study, but
essentially the same trends appear for recent years. Both surveys indicate
that, since 1987, rates <strong>of</strong> inhalant use have changed very little.
Use <strong>of</strong> <strong>Inhalant</strong>s by Young Children
Tables 1 and 2 also provide data on use <strong>of</strong> inhalants by children in every
grade from 4th through 12th. They show that there is a significant
segment <strong>of</strong> very young children who try inhalants and who have used
inhalants in the last month, suggesting that they are continuing to use
them, not just trying them. By the fourth grade, about 6 percent <strong>of</strong> U.S.
children have tried inhalants. As they get older, a few more young
children try inhalants with each passing year, so lifetime prevalence
increases steadily with each year until it peaks at about 16 percent in the
eighth grade. While marijuana is considered by most to be the so-called
gateway drug leading to use <strong>of</strong> other illicit drugs, more than half <strong>of</strong> the
very young children who try inhalants have not even tried marijuana. In
1988, more eighth graders reported having tried inhalants than having
tried marijuana, and this difference has increased over the past 5 years
(Edwards 1993). Now the first illicit drug used by children is more likely
to be an inhalant than it is to be marijuana.
Table 2 shows that from one-third to one-half <strong>of</strong> the young children who
are experimenting with inhalants are not just trying the drug once. They
are using inhalants once a month or more. Much <strong>of</strong> this early inhalant
use is mere experimentation but it is dangerous in itself, and using any
drug increases the tolerance for drug use, creating danger <strong>of</strong> further drug
involvement. There also are children who go beyond experimentation
and get heavily involved with inhalants. The most serious form <strong>of</strong>
obsession with inhalant use probably occurs in countries other than the
United States where young children live on the streets completely without
family ties. These groups almost always use inhalants at very high levels
(Leal et al. 1978). While the United States does not have a significant
population <strong>of</strong> young, inhalant-abusing “street kids” such as those found in
some other countries, there are children in the United States who are
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