Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2005
Source: Lowell Sun (MA)
Copyright: 2005 MediaNews Group, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.lowellsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/852
Author: Jennifer Fenn
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

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.
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MAP posted-by: Beth