Survey: Most Inhalant Abuse Treatment Admissions Are for Adults

WASHINGTON – Adults represent more than half of the patients admitted to substance abuse treatment programs for using inhalants, new data show.

The survey, released in March and conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), also shows that in 2008, 32% of the adults who had treatment admissions involving inhalants were aged 30-44 years, and 16% were 45 and older.

The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition announced the findings at a press conference in collaboration with SAMHSA. The press conference was held in recognition of the annual National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week.

Harvey Weiss, executive director of the coalition, suggested that it might be time to broaden the traditional focus on inhalant prevention among children and adolescents. "The frequency of e-mails and calls on our toll-free hotline from people needing help for spouses, older siblings and friends, parents, and even grandparents has led us to understand that people of all ages are at risk" and might need help, he said.

The latest numbers support demographic figures found in SAMHSA’s most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That survey showed that 1.1 million adults aged 18 years and older reported past-year use of inhalants.

That compares with 988,000 adults who used crack in the past year, 637,000 who use LSD, 571,000 who used heroin, and 75,000 who used phencyclidine (PCP).

Dr. Jennifer N. Caudle, an osteopathic family physician representing the American Osteopathic Association who attended the press conference, said that adults can be drawn to use inhalants for reasons similar to those cited by adolescents: Inhalants are inexpensive, easy to find, and legal.

When it comes to treatment, Dr. Caudle said the only definitive way to know whether patients are addicted to inhalants is to ask. "If you don’t, you won’t know, and if you don’t know, you can’t help," Dr. Caudle said. "So if you ask and you get a positive answer, you can start counseling." She encouraged physicians to provide the necessary resources to their patients so they can get the treatment they need.

Howard C. Wolfe, an inhalant expert and director of the New England Inhalant Abuse Coalition, said another reason inhalant abusers are not getting the treatment they need is that programs do not think they are equipped to treat them, although inhalant abusers exhibit most of the same needs as people with other addictions. "The result is that inhalant users are turned away from treatment programs or are not adequately treated," Mr. Wolfe said, adding that many inhalant abusers also are turned away from treatment because of rages caused by neurological damage.

Dr. Mark S. Gold, an expert on drugs and the brain, also expressed concern about the central nervous system and brain damage caused by inhalant abuse. "We do not take much comfort from the reported decline in the use of heroin and other drugs. Clearly, prescription drug misuse, abuse, and dependence are the major opioid problems today," Dr. Gold, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry & Neuroscience and chairman of the psychiatry department at the University of Florida, Gainesville, said in an interview.

For his part, Dr. Robert L. DuPont said in an interview that the latest study underlines two widely overlooked facts about biology and availability. First, the study shows that "chemicals that produce the brain reward of substance abuse can be taken by many routes of administration, including through the lungs – by smoking and in this case by inhalation or ‘huffing.’ " Second, drugs of abuse are not only the traditional drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin but also chemicals that are commonly available in the home and office.

"The simple truth is that, as the saying goes, ‘There is no problem so bad that drugs and alcohol won’t make worse,’ "said Dr. DuPont, who was the first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and founding president of the Institute for Behavior and Health Inc. in Rockville, Md.

"Physicians now need to include inhalant abuse in their routine screen of adults for substance abuse – and not just for youth."

WASHINGTON – Adults represent more than half of the patients admitted to substance abuse treatment programs for using inhalants, new data show.

The survey, released in March and conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), also shows that in 2008, 32% of the adults who had treatment admissions involving inhalants were aged 30-44 years, and 16% were 45 and older.

The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition announced the findings at a press conference in collaboration with SAMHSA. The press conference was held in recognition of the annual National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week.

Harvey Weiss, executive director of the coalition, suggested that it might be time to broaden the traditional focus on inhalant prevention among children and adolescents. "The frequency of e-mails and calls on our toll-free hotline from people needing help for spouses, older siblings and friends, parents, and even grandparents has led us to understand that people of all ages are at risk" and might need help, he said.

The latest numbers support demographic figures found in SAMHSA’s most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That survey showed that 1.1 million adults aged 18 years and older reported past-year use of inhalants.

That compares with 988,000 adults who used crack in the past year, 637,000 who use LSD, 571,000 who used heroin, and 75,000 who used phencyclidine (PCP).

Dr. Jennifer N. Caudle, an osteopathic family physician representing the American Osteopathic Association who attended the press conference, said that adults can be drawn to use inhalants for reasons similar to those cited by adolescents: Inhalants are inexpensive, easy to find, and legal.

When it comes to treatment, Dr. Caudle said the only definitive way to know whether patients are addicted to inhalants is to ask. "If you don’t, you won’t know, and if you don’t know, you can’t help," Dr. Caudle said. "So if you ask and you get a positive answer, you can start counseling." She encouraged physicians to provide the necessary resources to their patients so they can get the treatment they need.

Howard C. Wolfe, an inhalant expert and director of the New England Inhalant Abuse Coalition, said another reason inhalant abusers are not getting the treatment they need is that programs do not think they are equipped to treat them, although inhalant abusers exhibit most of the same needs as people with other addictions. "The result is that inhalant users are turned away from treatment programs or are not adequately treated," Mr. Wolfe said, adding that many inhalant abusers also are turned away from treatment because of rages caused by neurological damage.

Dr. Mark S. Gold, an expert on drugs and the brain, also expressed concern about the central nervous system and brain damage caused by inhalant abuse. "We do not take much comfort from the reported decline in the use of heroin and other drugs. Clearly, prescription drug misuse, abuse, and dependence are the major opioid problems today," Dr. Gold, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry & Neuroscience and chairman of the psychiatry department at the University of Florida, Gainesville, said in an interview.

For his part, Dr. Robert L. DuPont said in an interview that the latest study underlines two widely overlooked facts about biology and availability. First, the study shows that "chemicals that produce the brain reward of substance abuse can be taken by many routes of administration, including through the lungs – by smoking and in this case by inhalation or ‘huffing.’ " Second, drugs of abuse are not only the traditional drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin but also chemicals that are commonly available in the home and office.

"The simple truth is that, as the saying goes, ‘There is no problem so bad that drugs and alcohol won’t make worse,’ "said Dr. DuPont, who was the first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and founding president of the Institute for Behavior and Health Inc. in Rockville, Md.

"Physicians now need to include inhalant abuse in their routine screen of adults for substance abuse – and not just for youth."

WASHINGTON – Adults represent more than half of the patients admitted to substance abuse treatment programs for using inhalants, new data show.

The survey, released in March and conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), also shows that in 2008, 32% of the adults who had treatment admissions involving inhalants were aged 30-44 years, and 16% were 45 and older.

The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition announced the findings at a press conference in collaboration with SAMHSA. The press conference was held in recognition of the annual National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week.

Harvey Weiss, executive director of the coalition, suggested that it might be time to broaden the traditional focus on inhalant prevention among children and adolescents. "The frequency of e-mails and calls on our toll-free hotline from people needing help for spouses, older siblings and friends, parents, and even grandparents has led us to understand that people of all ages are at risk" and might need help, he said.

The latest numbers support demographic figures found in SAMHSA’s most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That survey showed that 1.1 million adults aged 18 years and older reported past-year use of inhalants.

That compares with 988,000 adults who used crack in the past year, 637,000 who use LSD, 571,000 who used heroin, and 75,000 who used phencyclidine (PCP).

Dr. Jennifer N. Caudle, an osteopathic family physician representing the American Osteopathic Association who attended the press conference, said that adults can be drawn to use inhalants for reasons similar to those cited by adolescents: Inhalants are inexpensive, easy to find, and legal.

When it comes to treatment, Dr. Caudle said the only definitive way to know whether patients are addicted to inhalants is to ask. "If you don’t, you won’t know, and if you don’t know, you can’t help," Dr. Caudle said. "So if you ask and you get a positive answer, you can start counseling." She encouraged physicians to provide the necessary resources to their patients so they can get the treatment they need.

Howard C. Wolfe, an inhalant expert and director of the New England Inhalant Abuse Coalition, said another reason inhalant abusers are not getting the treatment they need is that programs do not think they are equipped to treat them, although inhalant abusers exhibit most of the same needs as people with other addictions. "The result is that inhalant users are turned away from treatment programs or are not adequately treated," Mr. Wolfe said, adding that many inhalant abusers also are turned away from treatment because of rages caused by neurological damage.

Dr. Mark S. Gold, an expert on drugs and the brain, also expressed concern about the central nervous system and brain damage caused by inhalant abuse. "We do not take much comfort from the reported decline in the use of heroin and other drugs. Clearly, prescription drug misuse, abuse, and dependence are the major opioid problems today," Dr. Gold, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry & Neuroscience and chairman of the psychiatry department at the University of Florida, Gainesville, said in an interview.

For his part, Dr. Robert L. DuPont said in an interview that the latest study underlines two widely overlooked facts about biology and availability. First, the study shows that "chemicals that produce the brain reward of substance abuse can be taken by many routes of administration, including through the lungs – by smoking and in this case by inhalation or ‘huffing.’ " Second, drugs of abuse are not only the traditional drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin but also chemicals that are commonly available in the home and office.

"The simple truth is that, as the saying goes, ‘There is no problem so bad that drugs and alcohol won’t make worse,’ "said Dr. DuPont, who was the first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and founding president of the Institute for Behavior and Health Inc. in Rockville, Md.

"Physicians now need to include inhalant abuse in their routine screen of adults for substance abuse – and not just for youth."