From the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC)

The latest Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration?s (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use & Health, (NSDUH) indicates a rise in inhalant use. The NSDUH indicates that lifetime use among 12 to 17 year olds almost doubled between 1999 and 2002 (5.4% to 10.5%).
The latest PRIDE Survey, covering grades 6 through 12, indicated that inhalant use rose at a significant rate for almost all grade levels. Monthly use rates are equal to or are their highest since 1998. The survey indicated that use would most likely occur at home or at school on weekends or during school. At the 7th and 8th grade level, girls use almost as much as boys-at all other grades boys use more than girls. Only about 56% of 6th graders believe inhalants are very harmful.
The Emergency Department Trends from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Final Estimates, 1995-2002, which relies on a sample of hospitals providing 24 hour emergency departments (EDs) to capture on ED visits, stated that, nationwide ED mentions of inhalants increased 187% from 522 in 2001 to 1.496 in 2002. The report went on to say, estimates for inhalants have tended to fluctuate from year to year, and no significant change is seen when the comparison is made between 1995 or 2000 or 2001.


WHERE TO FIND HELP AND MORE INFORMATION

INHALANT SLIDE SHOW:
Isabel Burk, the Health Network, developed an excellent inhalant slide show at: http://www.healthnetwork.org. Isabel has also written a school policy guide that includes inhalant policies.

HELIUM AND NITROUS OXIDE INFORMATION:
Questions about the two most common gases, helium and nitrous oxide are addressed by the Compressed Gas Information (CGA). http://www.cganet.com.

TEACHERS GUIDE FOR INHALANTS:
The Virginia Department of Education has developed an excellent resource for all educators. It is a teachers K-12 inhalant curriculum. It can be downloaded at:
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/Inhalantbook.pdf. The resource guide can also be found on the homepage at http://www.inhalants.org under the topic new.

PARENTS GUIDE TO PREVENTING INHALANT ABUSE BROCHURE:
Available from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) at no cost to health departments, schools, and nonprofits. Contact Ken Giles at CPSC at kgiles@cpsc.gov and provide him with your name, organization, address and phone number.

DEA'S REPORTS ON ILLICIT DRUG ACTIVITY:
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), at its web site has up to date fact sheets, reports, buy state, on illicit drug activity, including inhalants. http://www.dea.gov/pubs/state_factsheets.html

THE NATION LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
"Welcome to Tox Town" is an introduction to toxic chemicals and environmental health encountered in every day life. Inhalants are toxic chemicals and can kill just like poisons when misused. Visit:
http://toxtown.nlm.hih.gov. Also, NLM is a household products database. Find out what are in common household products. http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF POSION CONTROL CENTERS:
Can be reached directly at: 800-222-1222.

INHALANT TREATMENT
Although SAMHSA/CSAT has an excellent online treatment locator at http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov, it does not delineate inhalant specific treatment facilities. An alternative is: http://www.addictionresourceguide.com/specpop/inhalant.html.

ALERT: The 12th annual National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW) will be March 21-27, 2004 For more information: www.inhalants.org