Sometimes, despite our effort, children get high. Tragically, sometimes the end result is death. The killer does not have to be cocaine, heroin, LSD, or any number of available illegal drugs. No, the killer may well be a can of aerosol in your medicine cabinet. It may the can of gas sitting in the garage for the lawnmower. Fabric protector, hair spray, paint thinner...the list goes on and on. We are talking about huffing and it is being called the cocaine of the 90s.
Huffing is not new. Kids have just taken it to a new and dangerous level. I remember in grade school joking about the kid who sniffed glue. I remember in junior high when my cousin huffed gasoline because it may her face flush and gave her the appearance of being ill so she could stay home from school. I remember in high school in the late 70s when kids carried bottles of RUSH (butyl nitrate) available for purchase over the counter which momentarily impeded your flow of oxygen giving a short lived but immediate high.
My home is not excluded. I have a teenager who has experimented with huffing on several occasions. To tell you I saw the warning signs would be a blatant lie. I was clueless. It wasn't until I caught them red-handed that it hit me like a ton of bricks what they were doing. I begged for a reason. I felt starved for some rationale that I could grasp with my logical mindset. They were pretty much reluctant to talk as if protecting some time honored Teen Code of Ethics but I did arrive at some conclusions.
Huffing provides an immediate high. The effects are usually short-term in duration and misuse is virtually undetectable in standard drug testing. You can get high in the afternoon and still recover in time for family dinner. You don't have to worry about failing a drug test and getting kicked off the baseball team. Inhalants are cheap, legal, and readily accessible. It is estimated that over 1000 household substances are misused as inhalants.
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