Inhalants

INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS

22% of inhalant abusers who died had no history of previous inhalant abuse. In Karachi, Pakistan, 80% to 90% of street kids sniff glue or solvents.
22% of inhalant abusers who died had no history of previous inhalant abuse. In Karachi, Pakistan, 80% to 90% of street kids sniff glue or solvents.

A US survey, combining data from 2002 to 2006, found that an annual average of 593,000 teens aged 12 to 17 had used inhalants for the first time in the year before they took the survey.

  • More than 22.9 million Americans have experimented with inhalants at some point in their lives.
  • After marijuana, inhalants are the most common form of drug abuse among teens in the UK. A Department of Health survey found that six percent of 11 to 15-year-olds had abused solvents.
  • There were 49 deaths in the UK in 2006 due to inhalants. Of these, 33 were caused by butane, most of them butane cigarette lighter refills.
  • In Ireland, the second-most commonly used substances are inhalants. A survey of 15- to 16-year-old students found that 15% had abused inhalants, well above the European average of 9%.
  • According to the European School Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs, 20% of youth in the 12 to 16 age group have used inhalants.
  • By the time students in the US reach the 8th grade, one in five will have used inhalants.
  • In the US, the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 1.1 million youths aged 12 to 17 had used inhalants in the past year.
  • 22% of inhalant abusers who died of Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome had no history of previous inhalant abuse—they were first-time users.
  • In Nairobi, Kenya, an estimated 60,000 children live on the streets and almost all are addicted to some sort of inhalant.
  • In the Pakistani city of Karachi there are an estimated 14,000 street kids, of whom 80% to 90% sniff glue or solvents.