Inhalant Abuse Prevention Initiative

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

In 2005, a survey of Chesterfield County youths revealed that eighth-graders were abusing inhalants at twice the national rate. Inhalant abuse, the deliberate concentration and breathing of fumes or gases to get high, is dangerous and deadly. It causes damage to the brain and can result in sudden death. The Chesterfield County Department of Youth Planning and Development provided staff support to SAFE, Chesterfield’s substance abuse prevention coalition, to form an inhalant task force to address this problem. The task force developed a comprehensive community approach to decrease inhalant abuse among the county’s youths. This initiative incorporates increasing awareness through education and capacity building and decreasing availability and accessibility of products in the school and home environment. A multi-media training package on inhalants was developed to train all staff in a school setting, from custodians through the principal. Teams were formed to present the training. Parents are reached through workshops and information on SAFE’s web site. The Students’ school-supply list now specifies only nonabusable products.