Inhalant use among North Dakota middle school students is 7.4% and 11.6% among high school students (Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2011). Inhalants Awareness Week, held in March, provides an opportunity to increase understanding about the abuse of inhalants and to initiate community awareness.

Inhalant Abuse refers to the deliberate inhalation or niffingof fumes, vapors or gases from common household products for the purpose of getting high. Inhalant Abuse is an often-overlooked form of substance abuse, but it is just as dangerous as abusing drugs or alcohol. In fact, more first-time users die from inhalants than from any other drug. When people abuse inhalants, they are essentially poisoning themselves.

We can all play an important role in preventing inhalant abuse by creating awareness of the issue, encouraging the purchase of safe alternatives, and safeguarding products that can be easily abused.

The Inhalant Abuse Prevention Toolkit (6.68Mb pdf) includes this information along with easily reproducible handouts for parents, activities for youth, and ideas for school, facility, and community wide change.