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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 2008)
Pgge 5 Jan u ary 31, 2 0 0 8 Spiiyay T ym oo, W grm Springs, O regon An important message from the Community Health Education Team By Judith Charley Acting Public Health Educator As parents, guardians and trusted adults, we want to pro vide the safest environment for our children. We are concerned about illegal and illhcit drugs such 'as m arijuana, cocaine, meth, heroin and LSD, but of ten ignore the dangers posed to our children from com m on household products. Many of these products can be used for inhalant abuse. Many o f the household prod ucts contain volatile solvents or chemicals. These products can be such common items such as glues, nail polish remover, lighter fluid, spray paints, deodorant and hair sprays, whippped cream canisters, and cleaning fluids, and are widely available and eas ily accessible. Many young people inhale the vapors from these sources in order to obtain a quick in toxication without being aware o f the serious health conse quences that can result. | The most recent name of this type o f use is called “Huffing,” but is more commonly known as “sniffing” to most people in our community. Huffing or sniffing is a form o f inhalant abuse. It was not too long ago that our community felt the loss of a young person due to inhalant use. The loss of life from doing this type o f inhaling was devestating to the community, family, relatives and friends. O ne grandm other affected by this loss expressed her ob servation that we must continu ally and consistendy inform and educate our community of this type o f activity in an all out ef- fotfflt& kedp our children safe. '-»■'The accidental death con firmed what can occur at any given time by inhaling to obtain a “high.” It is a dangerous and risky. , ■Everyone m ust know that experimentation with these sub stances should n o t be taken lightly. Even a single session of repeated inhalant abuse can dis rupt heart rhythms and cause death froth scardiac arrest or lower dxygeii levels enough to cause suffocation. Regular abuse of these sub stances can result in serious harm to vital organs including the brain, heart, kidneys and liver. N ow that you have a brief glim pse as to w hat inhalant abuse is, we hope you will look forward to reading future ar ticles on this topic. The Community Health Edu cation Team wants to provide a way for you to become better informed about the dangers of inhalant use and abuse. First question The first thing most people want to know is, What are in halants? In h ala n ts are volatile sustances that produce chemi cal vapors. These vapors can be inhaled to induce or bring about a psychoactive, or mind-altering, effect. Although other abused sub stances can be inhaled, the term “inhalants” is used to describe a variety o f substances whose main common characteristic is that they are rarely, if ever, taken by any route other than inhalation. This definition o f inhalants involves a b ro ad range o f chemicals found in hundreds of differen t products th a t may have different pharmacological effects. Because o f this, trying to attempt a precise category for inhalants is hard to do. One classification lists four general categories, which we found is the easiest to share and easiest for people to understand. They are: Volatile solvents, aerosols, gases and nitrites. The difference am ong these sub stances is based on the form in which they are often found in household, industrial and medi cal products. Volatile solvents are liquids that vaporize at room tempera ture. They are found in such things as pgint thinners and re movers,, dry-c*leanfing fluids, degreasers, gasoline, glues, cor rection fluids and felt-tip mark ers. As you can see, these are com mon household products that are inexpensive and easily obtained. Aerosols are sprays that con tain propellants and solvents, such as spray paints, deodorant, hair sprays, vegetable oil sprays for cooking, and fabric protec tor sprays. As you can see, these are products that have a “spray” action from a canister. The spray is propelled out from the can. These are very easy products to get a hold of, as many’are found in our home. The key is to be aware, safely Inhalant abuse is cheap, it is easy to get the products needed fo r a high, and it is often an activity we tend to overlook, until it is too late. store your product or “snappers.” Amyl nitrite is . used in cer tain diagnostic procedures and was prescribed in the past to treat some patients for heart pain. Nitrites are now prohib ited by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but can be still be found, sold in small bottles, often labeled as “video head cleaner,” “room odorizer,” and “leather cleaner,” or “liq uid aroma.” We know that the terminol ogy is a little hard to wade through, but feel it is important that you have at least seen the words on paper, and are basi cally aware o f what they are. Gases include medical anes thetics as well as gases used in household or commercial prod ucts. Medical anesthetic gases include ether, chloroform, hal- Seventh-ninth graders H uffing, or sniffing have othane, and nitrous oxide, most commonly known as “laughing been occurring for many years, yet no real focus has been taken gas.” N itrous oxide is the m ost abused o f these gases and can be found in whipped cream dis pensers and products that boost octane levels in racing cars. H ousehold or commercial products containing gases in clude butane lighters, propane tanks, whipped cream dispens ers, and refrigerants. In class presentations to com munity members, most were a little concerned after learning that whipped cream dispensers was on this list. It is not the whipped cream that creates a high, it is the pro pellant or gas inside the con tain er th a t push es o u t the whipped cream that is used to obtain a high. The whipped cream from a canister is still safe to use on your desserts. Now that you are aware how this product can be misused, ev eryone can be extra cautious. It is o ften the com m on things that we tend to overlook and disregard, because we are not informed. Once you know how it can be misused, you are then aware o f the danger o f product misuse or abuse. to make community members better informed about it’s use, abuse and consequences. Research on this type o f abuse indicates that inhalant abuse reaches its peak at some point between seventh through the ninth grades. Eighth-graders also regularly report the highest rate of cur rent, past year, and lifetime in halant abuse. This research in formation is based on informa tion obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. While priority efforts con tinue to address drug usé, pri marily meth, let us not ignore the signs o f o th er types o f abuse. Inhalant abuse is cheap, it is easy to get thé products needed for a highland it is often an ac tivity we tend to overlook, until MADRAS it is too late. It is the in ten tio n o f the Community Health Education Team (CHET) to inform com munity members, so that indi viduals are able to make posi tive choices for a better future for all. Please look for future articles that will cover: Patterns o f in halant abuse; Recognizing inhal ant abuse; How are inhalants used; How do inhalants produce' their effects; Short and long term effects of' inhalant abuse; and What are the medical con sequences of inhalant abuse. I f departments, groups, or even a family would like a pre sentation by the CHET team, please feel free to contact: Carolyn Wewa at 553-3462 at the Family Resource Center in Warm Springs. 5 Paint & Glass Your Local Paint & Glass Experts _ _ Benjamin A. „ M ooreAa. , PAINTS _ xpressions GALLERY' Madras Paint & Glass 1076 SW Hwy 97 in Madras, ph. 475-2166 Nitrites often are considered a special class o f inhalants. Unlike most other inhalants, which act directly on the cen tral nervous system, nitrites act primarily to dilate blood vessels and relax the muscles. While other inhalants are used to alter mood, nitrites are used primarily as sexual enhanc ers. Nitrites include cyclohexyl nitrite, isoamyl (amyl) nitrite, and isobutyl (butyl) nitrite, and are commonly known as “poppers” O P E N 8-5:30 M-F : 9-4 S at Need help with a legal problem? Legal Aid Services of Oregon provides free assistance to low- income Oregonians in many civil cases. Speak with an attorney during drop-in hours 1 to 4 p.m. on the first Monday of the month at the Family Resources Center in Warm Springs. Or call us at 385- 6944 Monday through Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. IRA’S SALES & SERVICE, INC. Taco Express Vending Truck 24-HOUR TOW SERVICE Next to Whitehorse Adventures at Deschutes Crossing OPEN 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or later depending on hungry traffic \ .---------------i— Call in order at: 460-3343 or 460-3340 '........ 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