Household Products Are the Drug of Choice for Adolescents

Are You Aware?

Are you aware of what products or chemicals are found in your own household that kids can use to give an effect of an illicit drug? It is disturbing to know that the youth of today has the ingenuity to figure out which common household chemicals and products can give them a "high" without a parent figuring it out.

Recently, the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition released a report indicating that inhalants were being used more often than marijuana or prescription pain killers by kids on the brink of becoming teenagers. It was stated that among young drug user's common household chemicals were used to get high, and often this is done before moving on to other illicit drugs such as marijuana or pain pills. And adolescent girls were particularly more vulnerable to inhalant abuse.

These common household products included shoe polish, glue, aerosol air fresheners, hair sprays, nail polish, pain solvents, degreasers, gasoline and lighter fluid. Just looking at some of these products it would show that virtually every household has any one or multiple "inhalants" sitting around as a common daily item to use. These inhalants are found everywhere in your home, and as parent's we do not often realize what products are used and for what purpose.

The message here is that parents need to be aware that these common household products have the potential of being used as an illicit drug. Parents need to be conscientious that young adolescents and teenagers are at risk of using these products to sustain a "high" and these issues and concerns need to be discussed with their children. It is also important for parents to be aware of which products can be abused and to keep track of any potentially dangerous products that may be in the home.

Resources:

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=613538
http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20080313/tweens-favor-inhalants-to-get-high?src=RSS_PUBLIC