Inhalant Use Among Youth

Main Findings:

In 2000, more than 2 million youths aged 12 to 17 reported using inhalants at least once in their lifetime.

Between 1999 and 2000, the rate of past year inhalant use declined among youths aged 12 or 13.

Youths who reported an average grade of D or below were more than 3 times as likely to have used inhalants during the past year as youths with an average grade of A.

The 2000 NHSDA estimated that of the 23 million youths aged 12 to 17, more than 2 million (9 percent) used inhalants in their lifetime. The category of inhalants most frequently reported by youths was glue, shoe polish, or toluene (4 percent). Lifetime inhalant use of gasoline or lighter fluid was reported by 3 percent. Approximately 2 percent reported inhaling the following types of substances: spray paints; correction fluid, degreaser, or cleaning fluid; nitrous oxide or "whippets"; amyl nitrite, "poppers," locker room odorizers, or "rush"; other aerosol sprays; and lacquer thinner or other paint solvents.

Youths aged 12 to 17 had higher rates of past year inhalant use (4 percent) compared with adults aged 18 or older (18 to 25, 2 percent; 26 or older, less than 1 percent). Past year inhalant use was 3 to 4 percent among youths and young adults aged 13 to 20, but it was lower among older age groups. Between 1999 and 2000, the rate of past year inhalant use declined significantly among youths aged 12 or 13, from 4 percent in 1999 to 3 percent in 2000 (as did the rate of past month use from 1.3 percent in 1999 to 0.7 percent in 2000).

Males and females aged 12 to 17 reported similar rates of past year inhalant use (4 percent). However, among those aged 18 to 25, males were more likely than females to report past year inhalant use (3 vs. 2 percent). The rates of past year inhalant use were low among males and females aged 26 or older, but males were more likely to report past year inhalant use than females (0.4 vs. 0.1 percent).

Among youths aged 12 to 17, whites and Hispanics were more likely to have used inhalants during the past year (4 percent) than blacks (2 percent), but there were no statistically significant differences in past year inhalant use between Asians and the other racial/ethnic groups. There were no differences in past year use between males and females for white and black youths, but among Hispanic youths, males were almost twice as likely as females to have used inhalants during the past year (5 vs. 3 percent).

Inhalant Use and Academic Performance

In 2000, more than 29 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 reported an A average in their last completed semester or grading period, 41 percent reported a B average, 23 percent reported a C average, and 7 percent reported an average of D or below.1 Prior research has associated poor grades with substance use among youths.2 Past year inhalant use among youths aged 12 to 17 was higher among those with lower grade performance. Youths with an average grade of D or below were more than 3 times as likely to have used inhalants in the past year as youths who reported an average grade of A (7 vs. 2 percent).

Source: SAMHSA 1999 NHSDA.

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"In the United States, approximately three-fourths of all deaths among persons aged 10--24 years result from only four causes: motor-vehicle crashes, other unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide. Results from the 1999 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey demonstrate that numerous high school students engage in behaviors that increase their likelihood of death from these four causes...[including alcohol and illicit drug use]" Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Centers for Disease Control, Risk Youth Behavior Surveillance.