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Asthma inhalers are used -- and misused -- in various situations. The main objectives of this exploratory study, conducted among 1536 middle and high school students from a racially diverse community, were to assess the prevalence of nonprescribed inhaler use and to explore the relation between nonprescribed inhaler use and other drug use.
Researchers surveyed students about nonprescribed use of asthma inhalers, as well as use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, MDMA (Ecstasy), and cocaine. The response rate was 89%, comparable to rates seen in national school-based alcohol and drug studies. Overall, 11% of students reported using nonprescribed asthma inhalers; among eighth and ninth graders, the rate was significantly higher (15%). Nonprescr…