About 12 1/2 million ADOLESCENTS in this country say that they have sniffed INHALANTS—usually volatile solvents such as spray paint, glue, or cigarette lighter fluid—at least once in their lives, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in its 1997 MONITORING THE FUTURE study, a national survey of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students (also called the HIGH S CHOOL SENIOR SURVEY). In fact, results from a number of surveys suggest that among children under 18, the level of use of inhalants is comparable to that of stimulants and is exceeded only by the level of use of MARIJUANA, ALCOHOL, and CIGARETTES.

The abuse of inhalants, which include a broad array of cheap and easily obtainable household products, is frequently viewed by the public as a relatively harmless habit and not in the same high-risk category as drugs such...