Teen Drug Abuse-A lazy summer day turned deadly for 16-year-old Ricky Stem of Old Hickory, Tenn., and the "harmless fun" that killed him is becoming more popular among youths.
Ricky was on summer break from high school nearly 10 years ago when his father came home and found him lying dead on his bedroom floor. Ricky was "huffing," or inhaling household chemicals to get a dizzying high.
While overall teen drug abuse among teens is thought to be declining, inhalant use is on the rise.
Experts say ignorance is the reason huffing is so popular: Parents often don't know what huffing is - let alone the warning signs - and children vastly underestimate the risks of drug abuse with teens.
"Many times teens that would not try an illegal drug would try an inhalant, thinking it's harmless fun," Ricky Stem Sr. says. "And it's this 'harmless fun' that killed our son."
Parents unaware, access easy
Ricky Stem was inhaling Freon that he tapped from his parents' home air-conditioning system, but he could have used more than 1,000 other products. Nearly any type of solvent can be used as an inhalant.
According to the nonprofit National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, some common inhalants include compressed air used to remove dust on computers, rubber cement, spray paint, nail polish remover, lighter fluid and the aerosol from vegetable cooking spray and dessert topping. Anesthetics such as nitrous oxide or ether can be abused as well.
The products are sprayed into plastic bags or soda cans or onto rags, then inhaled.
Ricky's parents learned that their son had experimented with inhalants with a friend, and that the boys would take turns pulling a Freon-filled bag off each other's head. When Ricky died, he was alone; no one was there to pull the bag off. He died instantly of cardiac arrest in what's often referred to as sudden sniffing death syndrome.
Ricky's parents had warned their son about illegal drug use, smoking and alcohol but had never even heard the word "huffing" until their son died.
That day, a friend called the house to ask for Ricky, and Ricky's father told him the news. The teen's immediate reaction was to ask, "Was he huffing?"
"The kids know about huffing," Stem says. "The parents do not."
Growing problems of troubled teens
Huffing - also called bagging or sniffing - isn't a new problem, but it is a growing one.
The annual Monitoring the Future Survey, a poll of 50,000 American eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders sponsored by the National Institute on Teen Drug Abuse, found that in 2004, 17 percent of eighth-graders surveyed said they had used inhalants. Unlike other drugs, inhalants are used more by younger adolescents.
That number is up 1.5 percent from the year before, and experts fear it signals the start of a steady rise. Inhalant use peaked at 21 percent in 1996 - the year Ricky died - and 1997. Harvey Weiss, executive director for NIPC, says inhalant rates began to drop after several large awareness campaigns warned about the dangers. Those campaigns have tapered off, and inhalant use has risen accordingly.
Like alcohol, inhalants act as central nervous system depressants. They give teen drug abuse users a quick euphoric rush followed by a bit of wooziness. The effects fade quickly, which makes inhalant use difficult to detect and also gives many teen drug abuse children the misconception that inhalants aren't dangerous.
Many death certificates list accidental death as the cause of death for inhalant teen drug abuse users. There are no reliable statistics on inhalant death rates. Weiss says he hears of about 100 to 125 teens every year who die .
Even if they avoid sudden death, inhalant users risk causing severe and permanent damage to their brain, heart, kidney, brain, liver and other organs. Inhalants and teen drug abuse can also be physically and psychologically addictive.
WARNING SIGNS: of Teen Drug Abuse
Inhaling dangerous products such as paint, glue, markers or butane to get high can be deadly, and it's becoming more popular among youths. Here are some warning signs:
Teen Drug Abuse Signs & Symptons:
- Problems in school - failing grades, absenteeism, apathy.
- Paint or stains on body or clothing.
- Spots or sores around the mouth.
- Red or runny eyes or nose.
- Chemical odor on breath.
- Drunken, dazed or dizzy appearance.
- Nausea, loss of appetite.
- Anxiety, excitability, irritability.
Source: National Inhalant Prevention Coalition
On the Web about Teen Drug Abuse:
Teen Drug Abuse-Teen Substance Abuse-Resources for Teen Drug Abuse-Teen Drug Problem-Options for Teen Drug Abuse
Back to Top
