The NSDUH
Report: Inhalant Use Among
Youths: 2002 Update Highlights:
- In 2002, more than 2.6 million youths
aged 12 to 17 reported using inhalants at least once in their lifetime. Among
youths, the rate of past year inhalant use was about the same for boys (4.6%)
and girls (4.1%).
- Inhalants
are defined in the survey as "liquids, sprays, and gases that people sniff
or inhale to get high or to make them feel good." The categories of inhalants
asked about in the survey are: (1) amyl nitrite, "poppers," locker room
odorizers, or "rush"; (2) correction fluid, degreaser, or cleaning fluid;
(3) gasoline or lighter fluid; (4) glue, shoe polish, or toluene; (5) halothane,
ether, or other anesthetics; (6) lacquer thinner or other paint solvents; (7)
lighter gases, such as butane or propane; (8) nitrous oxide or "whippets";
(9) spray paints; and (10) other aerosol sprays.
- The categories
of inhalants most frequently used in the youths' lifetime were glue, shoe polish
or toluene (4.5%), gasoline or lighter fluid (3.5%), and spray paints (2.5%).
Over half (53%) of the youths who used an inhalant, however, had used more than
one type in their lifetime.
- Youths
who had used an inhalant in the past year were about three times more likely to
use marijuana, four times more likely to use prescription drugs nonmedically,
and seven times more likely to use hallucinogens than those who had not used inhalants
in the past year.
Reports
on Inhalants & Other Drugs Reports
on Youth Other Topics Other
OAS Publications and Services This Short Report,
The NSDUH Report:
Inhalant Use Among Youths: 2002 Update, is based
on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health
(NSDUH), formerly called the National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse (NHSDA). The NSDUH/NHSDA is conducted
by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA's survey
(NHSDA/NSDUH) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns,
and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian
non institutionalized population, age 12 and older. The
NHSDA/NSDUH also provides estimates for drug use by State. For
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