Kunz, Burget, Stagg, Pedersen Page: 1

William Kunz Joel Burget Blake Stagg Justin Pedersen English 1010 4/29/2014

Inhalant Abuse Prevention

We all want our students to be safe when we send them to school. All commonly abused drugs are taught to be discouraged, and most students ranging between grades 7-9 stay away from dangerous substances. But a far less intimidating substance to abuse has hit the charts by storm, Inhalants. Inhalants are vapors or gases inhaled into the lungs in order to reach a fast high. Although other abused drugs can be inhaled, the term inhalants is reserved for the wide variety of substancesincluding solvents, aerosols, gases, and nitritesthat are rarely, if ever, taken via any other route of administration (DrugFacts: Inhalants). 10.5 % of all middle school students have used inhalants, Compared to 8.5% for high-school students (Inhalants). Inhalant abuse is a bigger problem for middle school students than any other age group. The main reason its become such a major issue is the way inhalants are presented. Inhalants come in the form of household items, many of which the students use every day. These items are supplied by teachers unwittingly to

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those students that abuse them. Inhalants are inherently less intimidating because of this. Unlike smoking or ingesting pills or liquids, inhalants seems as innocent as air. This makes inhaling the air from a whipped cream bottle or a marker seem like a harmless act, and with very little peer pressure students can convince each other to partake in the act of inhaling these household items with little resistance. Some of the common inhalants include: Cleaning fluids, compressed air, paint thinner, aerosols, glue and Spray-paint. (What are inhalants). We decided to interview a middle-school teacher to get more information on the problem. We asked Do you notice this problem in your school he responded, No, I hear about marijuana abuse and alcohol from time to time, but not really inhalants. When we asked him if he was aware that middle-school students were the top abusers he was also unaware. It made complete sense to him after explaining the low intimidation factor that inhalants possess. When we asked him if he knew the dangers that inhalants possess he had heard they kill brain cells. After we explained the specific harmful effects inhalants possess he was growing more concerned. We asked him our final question what measures does your school have in place to prevent or make students aware of the dangers of inhalants. We were informed that health class was thing in place. He believed that the health class

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was very effective as did we, but there needs to be something more perhaps an assembly to make students aware of the true dangers of inhalants. Parents not knowing that these products could be potentially abused is a problem. One of the trifling things about inhalants is the fact that aside from a few common ones, middle school students are able to buy these glues and paints that they can use to get high. The effects that inhalants have on the body at any age are frightening, but the effect that it has on these younger students is far worse. After inhaling, the chemicals are absorbed into the lungs, and then into the bloodstream which reaches the fatty tissues of the brain. Some chemicals in inhalants will leave the body quickly but the ones that do not stay in the fatty tissue of the brain called myelin (Drug Facts, Inhalants). Myelin is a protective cover that surrounds the nerve cells. Myelin nerves help nerve fibers carry messages from the nerves to the brain. The inhaling of these chemicals present in all inhalants can cause damage to the myelin tissue, and slow communication between nerve fibres and the brain. This causes muscle spasms. These spasms can make something as simple as walking a difficult task similar to another disease that affects myelin tissue called multiple sclerosis. Another very dangerous side effect is brain cell damage. Inhalants directly damage brain cells and make them unable to receive enough oxygen to

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stay alive. Brain cell damage can cause extreme memory damage and even strip you of the ability to hold conversation. The damage that occurs can also depend on the specific inhalant type. There are six different types of inhalants. Toluene chemicals which are found in spray paint, glue and finger nail polish can cause hearing loss and damage to the nervous system. Trichloroethylene which is found in cleaning fluids also leads to hearing loss. Hexane, which is found in gasoline and glue, causes Peripheral Neuropathy -which is the inability to send messages to the brain from the nerves correctly-. Next is Nitrous Oxide which is very common, and found in whipped cream bottles and gas cylinders. This leads to hearing loss and damage to the brain, and nervous system damage. Last is ethane which is also known as Freon. Freon can cause irregular heart rhythms that can cause instant death from a heart attack (Effects on the brain). Inhalant abuse has become a dangerous problem for a variety of reasons. One of these reasons is the way that it is portrayed by the media. A very disturbing example comes from a movie titled Scooby-Doo Two: Monsters Unleashed. In one scene the two main characters -Shaggy and Scooby- inhale Nitrous Oxide from a whipped cream bottle. This was later edited out for home video release. These have now been dubbed by students as whippets. The way that the two main characters of the movie abused the inhalant, made it seem

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like an enjoyable experience that is okay for young viewers to try. The reality of it is Nitrous Oxide which is within the whipped cream can -as stated earliercauses hearing loss and direct damage to the brain, and nervous system. This is not something that should be portrayed in a movie rated PG created for the student demographic. Another irresponsible way that inhalants are made to seem non-threatening is inhaling helium from balloons. You may have seen this in line at a grocery store or perhaps at a festival, but the helium in the balloon causes brain cell damage as well as hearing loss. Another main cause which is directly related to the first cause is the fact that inhalants are not as intimidating as other drugs. Due to the way inhalants have been portrayed when a student is put in the situation where they are pressured into inhaling the toxic chemicals they do not resist like they would with other drugs. This can lead to intense overdose and addiction because the students were never aware themselves of the dangerous chemicals within these inhalants. The fact that inhalants come in the form of daily household materials not only is it an extremely easy task to obtain these different variations chemicals, but it becomes easy for students to convince other students to partake. Parents not knowing of the dangers of inhalants are also a very real problem. A story of a man and women who lost their 14 year old daughter to inhalant abuse came forward and admitted they knew to prevent

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all forms of drugs and alcohols except inhalants. The admitted they were completely oblivious to inhalant abuse, and wanted to make other parents aware of the true danger. (Huffing death). We found many pamphlets about inhalants online when researching this subject. There are many resources both online and counselors who can help with any drug addiction. The D.A.R.E. anti-drug program in schools is a great tool to help diffuse drugs before they begin. There are mountains of information on many web sites to help both identify the signs of abuse, and how to identify which, if any, items are being abused. There are several web sites, like dare.org, that can help parents with advice on how to approach and talk to students about these delicate topics. These are excellent sources for information, and can help both parents and teachers. There are many more sources that offer information about how to approach both inhalants, and methods to help educate our students on the dangers of such drugs. The most common way to raise awareness is through the required health classes. These classes help raise awareness in the students about the dangers of inhalants and other drugs. Students will demonstrate healthpromoting and risk-reducing behaviors to prevent substance abuse (Secondary Health Core Curriculum).

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The biggest reason that these lessons do not work is that parents are not involved with the learning process, and most students get started because peer pressure is strongest at these ages. This peer pressure is stronger than teachers and counselors voices, as these students are frantically trying to fit in. This can be even more dangerous as students will go further in order to impress potential friends. This can pressure students into doing even more dangerous behavior. As the ring leaders move to higher risk drugs, other students will follow them to remain in the group. All it takes is one student to succumb, many more will follow. Parents are not actively involved with the drug prevention programs. Parental support is an important part of getting students educated and keeping them drug free. This can be difficult, as students are beginning to be more independant and do not want their parents monitoring their every move. This can be made more difficult as parents themselves are not aware of the dangers of inhalant drugs. Parents may not be aware of what kind of items are used in abuse and therefore cant stop them. This makes it difficult for parents to differentiate the warning signs from usual behavior from this age group. Some of the warning signs are commonly displayed in normal behavior and nearly impossible to identify.

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Our short term solution is to make parents and students more informed with posters and pamphlets, addressing the issue with resources to lead them to learn more. We urge schools to install a display in a public area where inhalant abuse, and other drug relating pamphlets could be available. This will push the information that is already out there into parents hands to help educate them, and in turn, their students. This will help bring parents aboard to help them to correct this problem. We can also petition the school boards to increase the time in health classes spent discussing inhalants, as they are more prevalent in schools. Church and family obligations in our state is the biggest reason the other drugs are not a problem. Therefore we should appeal to these organizations to focus more on inhalants specifically, as they may not even be considered drugs by their users. Our long term solution is to have parents and teachers come together to help students correct this problem. By having parents educated, they can spot the early warning signs of inhalant abuse, and they can assist with helping students before it becomes an addiction. Parents can negate peer pressure by making the effort to become more educated. They are the most influential people in their students life, next to students peers. With the right tools, parents can help educate their students to resist inhalants and other drugs.

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Next, by putting more focus on inhalants into middle schools. Middle school health classes do a very good job at educating students on the dangers of drugs. We have come to the conclusion that there is too much ground to cover when it comes to wide array of drugs covered throughout health class. Part of our solution focuses on having an annual assembly focusing on the dangers of inhalant abuse. The intimidation factor of inhalants is low enough to where students can convince others to participate without little pressure. With and assembly that parents would be informed about it would be a good start to creating synergy with parents, and teachers. With these assemblies and making phone support more accessible, we can bring parents on board. the number of students being caught in this dangerous situation can be drastically reduced. With parents, students, and teachers all in the same boat we can help prevent students before they even begin to think about abusing drugs -specifically inhalants-. We can help students understand the dangers, and let them know that we are not here to punish them, but to help them. By helping students understand that we are not mad, just concerned about their well-being.

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Works cited Inhalants. drugabuse.gov, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 12/2012, Web. 04/29/2014. What are Inhalants? utahpsych.org. Utah Psych, 2010, Web. 04/29/2014. What Are Inhalants? teens.drugabuse.gov, NIDA, 03/27/2014, Web. 04/29/2014

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Raja Gosnell, dir. Scooby-Doo Two: Monsters Unleashed. Warner Brothers, 2004. Film. Gregory, John. Huffing Death: Parents Speak Out After 14-year-old Aria Doherty dies. abc.go.com, KABC-TV, 03/21/2013, Web. 04/29/2014. Harrington, Patti. Secondary Health Core Curriculum. schools.utah.gov, 08/2009, Web Mon. Feb. 2014.