I'm writing to warn you about the very real and increasingly popular dangers of inhalant abuse. I am living every parent's nightmare!

My pain and grief, and the anger I carry inside, motivate me to fight to prevent another family from every having to live in the hell I now dwell in. It motivates me to do everything in my power to see that no other child is lost due to stupidity, selfishness and ignorance. I lost my 15 year-old son in a senseless and preventable car accident. The driver chooses to start ‘huffing’ (aka sniffing, chroming, whipping) at the wheel. The driver passes out. Keith and his friend in the rear seat try to steer the car. Of course they fail. The car went sideways, hit a stone wall, then careened across a driveway and slammed into a tree about 20 feet from the road. The police found pieces of the car forty feet away.

MY SON, KEITH DIED ON IMPACT.

If you are a parent--take a few minutes to investigate whether your children may be experimenting with these dangerous (though perfectly legal) chemicals. If you are someone with siblings or other young people that you care about, please talk to them. All young people experiment, but inhalant abuse can cause serious injury or death with EVEN ONE USAGE. Most parents are in the dark regarding the popularity and dangers of inhalant use. Even fewer know the deadly effects the poisons in these products have on the brain and body when they are inhaled or "huffed." It's like playing Russian Roulette. The user can die the 1st, 10th or 100th time a product is misused as an inhalant. The wrong choice of aerosol can starve the body of oxygen, which can lead to unconsciousness and death, commonly referred to as SUDDEN SNIFFING DEATH (SSD).

Children (ages 9 to 17) already have the knowledge that common household products are inexpensive to obtain, easy to hide and the easiest way to get high. According to national surveys, inhaling dangerous products is becoming one of the most widespread “drug” problems in the country. Examples of products kids abuse to get high include model airplane glue, nail polish remover, cleaning fluids, hair spray, gasoline, ( from your own garage ­ the cap is removed from the gas tank, and inhaled) the propellant in aerosol whipped cream, spray paint, fabric protector, air conditioner fluid (freon), cooking spray and correction fluid.

A search of your own home will produce at least one product that can be used as an inhalant. These products are sniffed, snorted, bagged fumes inhaled from a plastic bag or "huffed" (inhalant-soaked rag, sock, or roll of toilet paper in the mouth) to achieve a high. Inhalants are also sniffed directly from the container. It is more popular than marijuana with young people. As little as $1.50 (lunch money) will pay for a can of air freshener. More than a million young people used inhalants to get high just last year. By the time a student reaches the 8th grade, one in five will have used inhalants.

I want the world of parents to be aware of the dangers of aerosols.
Please send any comments/edits/suggestions to margaret@nac.net.

For more information call the
Inhalants Hotline, 1-800-322-5585;
National Inhalant Prevention Coalition at 1-800-269-4237
or visit their site at
http://www.inhalants.org

Thank you, Keith’s Mom
http://www.oocities.org./Wellesley/Atrium/5833