Oliver: What’s old is new again, at least with substance abuse on college campuses

A recent article in USA Today about the prevalence of nitrous oxide use among college students caught my attention.

It reminded me that everything old becomes new again. You see, I remember vividly having to deal with this problem when I was in college in the late 1980s.

Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, can be abused when it is inhaled. It comes in little containers that are called whippets or whip-its. The USA Today article noted that today’s students sometimes skip the small containers and go right for larger canisters.

Part of the problem is that these little tubes are legal and easy to obtain. That same article mentioned that after a recent Mardi Gras celebration at Tulane University, the streets near the fraternities were filled with spent canisters.

I had never heard of these things until I found my college boyfriend, who was a member of a fraternity, doing whippets one day. He and a few of his fraternity brothers were sitting in a circle and taking turns taking “hits” of the gas.

Of course, I asked what was going on, but it soon became all too apparent. Needless to say, I was horrified.

You see, use of inhalants is a dangerous business. Despite the short-term “high” it provides, the long-term consequences aren’t anything to fool around with. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, use of inhalants can lead to cardiac arrest or suffocation. Inhalants can also damage the brain, heart, kidney and liver.

I vividly remember trying to explain to my boyfriend that what he was doing wasn’t a good idea. I also remember how upset I became as he dismissed my concern.

This was a chemical engineering student we’re talking about. He was incredibly smart. Yet, he still couldn’t see the danger of what he was doing.

“It’s not a drug” was one of the main arguments he made to me. Of course, it’s not a drug in the way that cocaine and heroin are. However, it’s a substance, and when one uses it in a way that’s not intended, it’s the very definition of substance abuse. Never mind that there are also statistics and studies to back that up.

Denial, as they say, is not just a river in Egypt. Undeterred, I continued to use my skills as a former high school debater to try to reach him.

Eventually, I think he and his fraternity brothers came to their senses. Or they learned not to do those things anywhere near me. However, I’m certain that at least for a time, my boyfriend did get the message. After all, he wasn’t a stupid guy.

Back then, we did have a lot of stress to succeed. University life had pressures that are unique. Yet, if I’m honest, it wasn’t nearly as bad as students today have it.

That’s also one of the reasons the incidence of substance abuse may be rising among our youth. And we’ve all heard repeatedly how the recent COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the mental health of so many young people.

If anything, the message should be clear that parents need to understand that even “smart” kids can fall victim to substance abuse. They may justify what they’re doing, but their inexperience coupled with half-baked ideas of what is a “drug” and what’s not could lead them into danger.

That’s why it’s so important to discuss these things with our kids. They need to be clear about the dangers of not just drugs, but also the abuse of common substances.

At least I knew enough when I saw it to know that huffing wasn’t a good idea. But not every young person is going to make the right decision.

That’s why education and a healthy dose of common sense are so important.

• Joan Oliver is the former Northwest Herald assistant news editor. She has been associated with the Northwest Herald since 1990. She can be reached at jolivercolumn@gmail.com.