Advocates and Parents in Illinois Partner to Prevent Inhalant Abuse

Today, more than 1 in 5 children in the U.S. will abuse inhalants by the time they reach the eighth grade. In Illinois, health providers, schools, counseling groups and poison control centers have joined forces with the Alliance for Consumer Education (ACE) to try to prevent children and teens from engaging in this potentially fatal activity.

The statewide initiative was launched Thursday as a way to educate parents, school officials and others who work with children on the dangers of inhalant abuse—a problem that advocates say needs more attention in the state.

“The program was launched to address parental unawareness and the significant rise of inhalant abuse,” said Colleen Creighton, Executive Director at ACE. “There is a real problem when more than 1 in 5 children in the U.S. will abuse inhalants by the eighth grade. That’s why such a distinguished and action-oriented group came together today to help address this issue.”

The ACE Inhalant Abuse Prevention Program will provide and distribute free Inhalant Abuse Prevention Kits to schools and communities throughout Illinois, with a focus on helping to educate adults on how to talk to their children about this under-estimated substance abuse issue.

Among the representatives and organizations involved in the effort are:

• Karel Ares, executive director, Prevention Firs
• Chris Cathcart, secretary of the board, Alliance for Consumer Education
• Colleen Creighton, executive director, Alliance for Consumer Education
• Carol DesLauriers, PharmD, certified specialist poison information, Illinois Poison Control
• Albert Holmes, principle education consultant/SDFSCA statewide coordinator, Illinois State Board of Education
• Julie Johnson, Illinois director, National Association of School Nurses
• Carleen Kreider, immediate past president, Alliance for Consumer Education
• Patricia Ocampo, education and outreach specialist, Illinois Poison Control
• Roseann Oppman, president, Illinois School Counselor Association
• Jeff Williams, parent and police officer

More than 1,400 inexpensive and readily available common household, office and school products can be huffed or sniffed by children to achieve short-term highs. These include correction fluid, nail polish remover, computer dust removal sprays, hair spray, pressurized dessert toppings, air freshener, felt tipped markers, spray paint, glue, butane lighters, gasoline and cooking spray.

“Inhalants are the fourth most abused substances after alcohol, tobacco and marijuana,” said Carol DesLauriers, PharmD, Certified Specialist Poison Information at Illinois Poison Control. “And yet this is likely one of the last things that occurs to parents when they think about drug abuse.”

According to recent research from the Illinois Drug Education Alliance, 598,000 Illinois youth ages 12-17 have initiated inhalant abuse in the past 12 months. Interestingly, girls start huffing at a much earlier age than boys. That means that parents, health care professionals and educators should start talking with pre-teen girls about the dangers of inhalants before it is too late.

Common health effects of inhalant abuse may include: Sudden sniffing death syndrome; nervous system and brain damage; irreversible damage to the liver and kidneys; and hearing loss. Inhalant abuse happens in homes, schools and places where children recreate. It is as common in cities as in suburbs and rural locations. In the past few years fatalities from inhalant abuse have occurred in neighborhoods from Rockford/Loves Park to Galesburg, Illinois.

Click here for more information about the Illinois initiative.