HUFFING AND PUFFING BEYOND FAIRY TALES

Huffing, bagging and sniffing are terms for inhalant use, a cheap,
legal and easy way that young people in Hardin County get high. Unlike
alcohol or illegal drugs, inhalants are found in every home in
America, making them particularly dangerous.

Parents are often out of the loop when it comes to inhalant use.
Children discuss and practice it; adults stay in the dark. Most
parents know how to talk to their kids about marijuana, date rape and
drinking because they have enough knowledge about these issues, but
inhalants are an information blind spot. The week of March 21-27 is
National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW) and Communicare
Regional Prevention Center encourages adults to get involved in order
to protect our youth.

At least one in every five eighth graders has intentionally inhaled
everyday products at the risk of brain damage and even death, reports
the 2003 National Institute on Drug Abuse "Monitoring the Future
Survey." Over 1 million young people used inhalants in 2002. Inhalant
abuse, most common in the 10-12 age bracket, is also considered a
"gateway drug", a student's first form of substance abuse before
"graduating" to other drugs.

Inhalants are as close as the kitchen sink or your child's classroom. They
can be purchased at any convenient, grocery or discount store. It is
perfectly legal for a person of any age to possess these substances.
Because of these factors, young people don't realize that using any
inhalant is like playing Russian Roulette: experimenters can die the first,
tenth or even hundredth time they use. Other effects of inhalant use
include brain, respiratory, liver and kidney damage, short-term memory loss
and hearing impairment.

We must educate our children about inhalants before they educate
themselves. We can protect our children by working together. For
information on NIWAP activities or inhalant abuse, call Communicare
Regional Prevention Center at (800) 432-9337 or the National Inhalant
Prevention Coalition at (800) 269-4237.

Kristy McGrew,

prevention specialist,

Communicare Regional Prevention Center