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 SAMHSA Press Releases
   
 

   
Date: March 6, 2003
Media Contact:

NIPC:        Harvey Weiss 1-800-269-4237 SAMHSA:  SAMHSA Media 301-443-8956
Phone: 301-443-8956

 

 

Inhalants Use By kids is Down Slightly, But 77,000 Youngsters Need Treatment

National Inhalants & Poisons Awareness Week is March 16-22

 

The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition (NIPC), with input from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will hold a press briefing on March 13 to present the first guidance on providing treatment for inhalant abuse. 

SAMHSA’s 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicates that there are still almost two million Americans 12 and older who used inhalants in the past year.  While the Monitoring for the Future Study shows that use of inhalants is declining among  eighth, tenth and twelfth graders, inhalant abuse is still the third most popular drug among pre-teens, and drops to fourth most popular substance of abuse in high school only as children discover marijuana.  There are 77,000 youngsters aged 12-17 in need of treatment for inhalant abuse.

Inhalant abuse is difficult to treat, and many substance abuse and medical professionals do not recognize the signs of inhalant abuse or know how to treat the youth and young adults that present for treatment.

Who:

H. Westley Clark, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., Director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment

David Shurtleff, Ph.D, Acting Director, Division of Neuroscience & Behavioral Research,  National Institute of Drug Abuse 

Harvey Weiss, MBA, Executive Director, National Inhalant Prevention Coalition

Elaine Parry, Acting  Director SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Stephen J. Pasierb, President and CEO, Partnership for a Drug-Free America 

Toy Johnson Slayton, St. Simon’s Island, GA, parent of a high school student who died from inhalant use
 
 

When:

March 13, 2003 at 9:30 a.m.
 
 

Where:

First Amendment Room
14th and F Streets NW 
Washington, D.C.
 
 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the United States. Information on SAMHSA's programs is available on this website, www.samhsa.gov. 
 
 

 

 

This page was last updated on 10 March, 2003
SAMHSA is An Agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services