Research Watch: Getting High or Chilling Out: News About Drugs

Carl Sherman
Pediatric News
February 1999
Pediatric News, Editorial Office
12230 Wilkins Ave.
Rockville, MD 20852

Increasing numbers of elementary school children and young teens are using inhalants and other legal drugs to get high, according to several research studies reported in the Pediatric News. These drugs are cheap, legal and easily available, and most adults are unaware of their potential for misuse.

Inhalants produce an immediate but short-lived high, and are popular among children under 14. Many first-time users are 8-9 years old.

Inhalants are volatile substances found in household products, such as furniture polish, insecticide, paint, gasoline, and butane lighters. Nitrous oxide is available in small cylinders, called “whippits,” that are sold to make whipped cream. Each cylinder releases enough gas for four doses, each providing a 2-5 minute high.

Butyl nitrite, called “bolt” or “rush”, causes an intense high, and can be bought in many 24-hour convenience stores as well as “head” shops. Because of its foul odor, it is often used in moving cars with the windows open, sometimes causing fatal accidents.

Although they are legal, these products are extremely dangerous. They can cause brain damage or loss of consciousness, including “sudden sniffing death,” which results in 500 deaths each year.

Another legal high is Ritalin, which is widely used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but has become a best-selling street drug costing $1-5 per tablet. Many abusers crush the tablet into a fine powder and snort it or rub it on the gums. Other legal drugs include herbal compounds that contain stimulants like ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, which are dangerous even though they are available over the counter.

In a separate article in the same issue, Sherman reports on a newly proposed psychiatric syndrome, “explosive mood disorder” to describe children and adolescents with explosive temper, mood swings, symptoms lasting at least one year, and problems with school, law enforcement, substance abuse, family or work.

According to Dr. Stephen Donovan of Columbia University, adolescents with explosive mood disorder tend to use marijuana rather than alcohol or other drugs. They described marijuana as helping them “chill out” to relieve irritability and anger.

In a small study of 10 adolescents, a drug (Divalproex) that is normally used to treat epilepsy was found to drastically decrease temper outbursts, from 6.5 per week to an average of .1 per week during the five weeks of the study. Eight of the adolescents had a history of marijuana dependence, and the researchers speculate that marijuana has a somewhat similar biological effect. While they were in the study, the adolescents’ use of marijuana dropped from an average of 25 joints per week to only 3.

Dr. Donvan tells Youth Today that more research is needed before this drug and diagnosis should be accepted. Youth workers who are having difficulties with kids who seem to have an “explosive mood disorder” may want to consider finding out more by contacting Donovan at (212) 543-5768. To find an article on this topic, join Medscape online at www.medscape.com and search under “explosive mood disorder.”

Zuckerman, Diana. "Getting High or Chilling Out: News About Drugs." Research Watch review of "Abuse of Legal Substances Rising Among Teens". Youth Today, April 1999, p. 12.

©2000 Youth Today. Reprinted with permission from Youth Today. All rights reserved.