A National Research Council committee that includes a Washington University researcher is issuing a report on the subject, and the committee says not enough research is available to reach any definite conclusions about gambling. The committee is calling for more funding to study gambling and its impact. If that increased availability is having an effect, then large numbers of pathological gamblers may be created in the coming months and years. It's the habit of choice for many young people, and it's a very dangerous one. Known in various places as huffing, sniffing or wanging, the habit of getting high by inhaling the fumes of common household projects now claims the lives of an estimated 1,000 children each year.
Researchers call it the silent epidemic, saying it is much more common than most realize.
Inhalant abuse has joined alcohol and marijuana as the top three drugs of choice among grade-school children. Studying young people on probation in Utah, a Washington University social work researcher has found that more than a third of those children have a history of inhalant abuse. Although it has been a problem for decades, inhalant abuse is apparently on the rise in many parts of the United States, but the problem varies from region to region. But weight management researchers at Washington University say that although it's always possible to look better later on, it's already too late to do anything about that first weekend. They say eating sensibly and exercising now may pay dividends later in the summer or the fall, but sensible weight loss will continue to pay off for years whereas a diet designed to shed 10 pounds in two weeks probably won't.