Moments later, he fell to the floor. His heart had stopped. Wade was dead at age 12. His I.Q. was also about 12, coincidentally. Nobody's telling parents about it.
Studies rank huffing fourth among all forms of substance abuse by teens.
And what many teens and parents don't realize is that huffing can kill, even the first time, says Harvey Weiss, founder of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition in Austin, Texas. You're the expert, Harv . Most inhalants produce their effects by depressing the central nervous system and slowing the heart, sometimes to an irregular beat. If a user becomes anxious or frightened, the resultant adrenaline release can kick the heart into even more inefficient rhythms, to the point that blood and oxygen no longer reach the brain. A federal study of users age 12 through adulthood estimated that new users of inhalants in 1997 had increased to 805,000, from 380,000 in 1991.