[Skip to Navigation]
Article
July 1988

Deliberate Intoxication of Young Children and Pets With Drugs: A Survey of an Adolescent Population in a Private Practice

Author Affiliations

Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 10666 N Torrey Pines Rd La Jolla, CA 92037

Am J Dis Child. 1988;142(7):701-702. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1988.02150070015010
Abstract

Sir.—In 1986, Schwartz et al1 reported on the deliberate intoxication with marijuana of young children by female adolescents, mainly in a babysitting situation. Of a group of 82 female adolescents in a drug treatment program, 11% stated that they and their friends had "blown marijuana smoke into the faces, noses, and mouths of young children with the intention of getting them 'high.'"

In this same population, the demographic, behavioral, and scholastic characteristics of these female adolescents were studied in much more detail. Fifty percent of this small sample admitted to getting a pet dog or cat high.

In the process of obtaining statistics concerning drug use in an adolescent population in an upper middle-class practice in San Diego, the adolescents involved were asked if they ever gave drugs to a child under 12 years of age or to a pet. One hundred seven male adolescents and 100 female

Add or change institution
×