About a fourth of teen delinquents who have prescriptions for asthma inhalers over-use them to get high, according to a study from the University of Michigan. Another 33% abuse inhalers, even though they do not have a prescription for them.

Researchers studied 723 adolescents in residential treatment centers, found that abuse of inhalers was widespread, and linked to increased psychiatric distress. This study appears in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Labels: asthma, inhalers, research