Pubdate: Tue, 15 Mar 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