Get Involved in National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week

Surveys have indicated a disturbing and potentially fatal trend in communities across the country: inhalant abuse among teenagers and young children. The 15th Annual National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week, taking place March 18-24, presents an opportunity to bring this issue to the radar screen and to launch community-wide prevention efforts.

According to the latest Monitoring the Future Survey, 9.1 percent of 8th graders, 6.5 percent of 10th graders and 4.5 percent of 12th graders used an inhalant to get high in the past year. And today, approximately one in six students in the United States has used an inhalant to get high by the time he or she reaches the 8th grade. Inhalants are everyday household products, such as gasoline, spray paint, glue, felt-tip markers, nail polish remover and computer dust remover, and in some cases inhaling these products just once can be fatal.

National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW), created by the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC), is an annual media-based, community-level program that is designed to increase understanding about the use and risks of inhalant involvement and involve all sectors of the community in the prevention effort. A press conference will be held in Washington, D.C. on March 15 to kick off the event.

Visit the NIPC’s Web site to find out how to get involved in National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week.