PREVENTION MATTERS ...

BOSTON -- One in eight Massachusetts public high school students has tried
inhalants at least once, they say, a statistic that prompts state health
officials to raise awareness about this potentially life-threatening problem.

The Department of Public Health reports "huffing" is happening throughout
the state, among all types of children.

Use may start as early as the third grade and increase through middle
school, with the highest proportion of lifetime use seen among white,
ninth-graders in rural areas. However, state officials say they are seeing
an increase in urban areas. Steve Keel, director of prevention for the
Bureau of Substance Abuse Services at the Department of Public Health,
says "We want to stay on top of this and educate the population about what
they can be looking for. It's a big concern." After holding discussion
groups, the office will assemble materials targeting minority populations
in urban areas, Keel said. Other brochures will target different
groups -- parents, teachers, youth.

Inhalant abuse is the intentional breathing in of gas and vapors, with the
goal of getting high. It does not refer to snorting cocaine or smoking
substances such as tobacco, marijuana, crack cocaine or opium.

There are over 1,000 common household, school, and industrial products
that can be abused, including solvents, solvent-based products gases, fuels
and aerosols. Unlike other substances, inhalants are legal to possess
for their intended use; although in Massachusetts, the possession, use,
purchase or sale of these products for the purpose of causing intoxication
is illegal. State law says it is illegal to intentionally smell or
inhale the fumes of any substance having the property of releasing toxic
vapors "for the purpose of causing a condition of intoxication, euphoria,
excitement, exhilaration, stupefaction, dulled senses or nervous system."
Additionally, one can neither possess, buy nor sell any such substance
(for these purposes). Violators are subject to a fine of not more than
$250, imprisonment for six months or less, or both. Anyone discovered
violating the law can be arrested without a warrant and held in custody
until a complaint is made. The Massachusetts Inhalant Abuse Task Force was
created in 1995 by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau
of Substance Abuse Services, to provide parents, teachers, healthcare
workers and other youth-serving professionals with the most up-to-date
information available.

A Breath Away is its statewide campaign to increase public awareness of
inhalant abuse through the dissemination of educational materials and
information about effective prevention strategies.