Inhalant Use
Initial use of inhalants often starts early. Some young people may use inhalants as an easily accessible substitute for alcohol. Research suggests that chronic or long-term inhalant abusers are among the most difficult drug abuse patients to treat. Many suffer from cognitive impairment and other neurological dysfunction and may experience multiple psychological and social problems.2003 Monitoring the Future Study (MTF)*
According to the Monitoring the Future Survey, NIDA’s nationwide annual survey of drug use among the Nation’s 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders, use by 8th-graders increased significantly in 2003 following a long and substantial decline in inhalant use in all three grades. Between 1995 and 2002, 8th-graders’ annual prevalence fell from 12.8 percent to 7.7 percent, as an increasing proportion of students came to see inhalant use as dangerous. However, 8th-graders’ use rose to 8.7 percent in 2003.
2002 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)**
Emergency department mentions of inhalants increased 187 percent, from 522 in 2001 to 1,496 in 2002, returning to the approximate level observed in 2000.
2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)***
Among youths age 12 to 17, 11.6 percent were current illicit drug users in 2002, and 1.2 percent were current inhalant users. Among 12- or 13-year-olds, 1.4 percent used inhalants. In 2002, 71 percent of inhalant users were 12- to 25-year-olds.
The number of new inhalant users in 2001 was similar to the number in 2000 (1.1 million). Inhalant initiates in 2001, as well as in prior years, were predominantly under age 18 (71 percent in 2001).
Notes
* These data are from the 2003 Monitoring the Future Survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, DHHS, and conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. The survey has tracked 12th-graders’ illicit drug use and related attitudes since 1975; in 1991, 8th- and 10th-graders were added to the survey. The latest data are online at www.drugabuse.gov.
** The latest data on drug abuse-related hospital emergency department (ED) visits are from the 2002 DAWN report, from HHS’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. These data are from a national probability survey of 437 hospital EDs in 21 metropolitan areas in the U.S. during the year. For detailed information from DAWN, visit www.samhsa.gov/statistics/statistics.html, or call the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686.
*** The 2002 NSDUH, produced by HHS's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, creates a new baseline for future national drug use trends. The survey is based on interviews with 68,126 respondents who were interviewed in their homes. The interviews represent 98 percent of the U.S. population age 12 and older. Not included in the survey are persons in the active military, in prisons, or other institutionalized populations, or who are homeless. Findings from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health are available online at www.DrugAbuseStatistics.samhsa.gov.
-This text came from NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
