The frontlines of the war on drugs have shifted to the home. A new reported compiled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that more children are “huffing” than using marijuana and cocaine combined.

Inhalant abuse, commonly called huffing, is the intentional inhalation of dangerous chemicals to achieve an altered mental or physical state. Tweens are turning to common household products like nail polish, glue, bleach and air freshener to get high.

In an interview with Reuters, SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde called the findings "frustrating because the danger comes from a variety of very common household products that are legal, they're easy to get, they're lying around the home and it's easy for kids to buy them. Kids and parents don't think of these things as dangerous because they were never meant to be used to be intoxicating."

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), symptoms of inhalant abuse include:

• dizziness,
• hallucinations,
• belligerent behavior,
• impaired judgment,
• disorientation,
• inattentiveness,
• and depression, especially when substances are used over a long period of time.

The NDIC also warns that death from huffing harmful products "can occur after a single use or after prolonged use. Sudden sniffing death (SSD) may result within minutes of inhalant abuse from irregular heart rhythm leading to heart failure. Other causes of death include asphyxiation, aspiration, or suffocation."

What can you do?

One of the reasons huffing has become such a huge problem is because people, especially old people, just don't know about it. Do something about that! Organize an awareness campaign for both young people and their parents!