I wanted to let you know about National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week which kicks off March 17 and ends March 24. You may be asking yourself, "What does this have to do with me?" According to the latest data presented by the Monitoring the Future Survey which is given to 50,000 eighth-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students throughout the country each year, inhalant use has been increasing over the past few years. It has leveled off only a little in 2006. However, the investigators are concerned about a decline in "perceived risk," especially in the eighth grade. This means our kids are huffing or inhaling without the knowledge of how dangerous these poisons are to their bodies.

Local sources have reported to me that kids are huffing or inhaling the Freon from local merchants' air conditionings in the Borough of Allentown. Many kids are reported to go into town after attending school. Now that the warm weather is just around the corner, the question is, what are we as a community going to do about this problem?

The Upper Freehold/Allentown Alliance to Prevent Alcoholism and Drug Abuse is actively working on this problem. However, we need your help. We need to talk with our children. As a parent of two, I know how hard it can be to even get a few minutes to do this. However, studies have shown that just a 15-minute conversation with our children about their daily activities are 67 percent less likely to be involved in substance abuse than children who have little or no communication.

It is never too early to teach your children about the dangers of inhalants. Don't just say "not my kid." Inhalant use starts as early as elementary school and is considered a gateway to further substance abuse. Parents often remain ignorant of inhalant use or do not educate their children until it is too late. Inhalants are not drugs. They are poisons and toxins and should be discussed as such.

Inhalants can be found in hundreds of common products, including nail polish remover, cleaning fluids, hair spray, gasoline, the propellant in aerosol whipped cream, spray paint, fabric protector, modeling glue, air conditioner fluid (Freon), cooking spray and correction fluid. The fumes can be sniffed, snorted, inhaled from a plastic bag or "huffed" from an inhalant-soaked rag, sock, or roll of toilet paper or sniffed directly from the container - and access to products kids can abuse is easy. Depending on how much they use, the user can experience slight stimulation, feeling of less inhibition or loss of consciousness. The user can also suffer from "sudden sniffing death syndrome." This means the user can die the first, 10th or 100th time he or she uses an inhalant. Other effects include damage to the heart, kidney, brain, liver, bone marrow and other organs. Please call (609) 758-7738, ext. 230, for information or to book a free prevention program for your organization, business, community, etc.

Jason Victor

Upper Freehold-Allentown

Municipal Alliance for the

Prevention of Alcoholism and

Drug Abuse