Statistics

• The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that one in five American teens have used Inhalants to get high. 
• According to Stephen J. Pasireb, President and CEO of The Partnership for Drug-Free America, 22% of 6th and 8th graders admitted abusing inhalants and only 3% of parents think their child has ever abused inhalants. 
• An analysis of 144 Texas death certificates by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse involving misuse of inhalants found that the most frequently mentioned inhalant (35%) was Freon (51 deaths).  Of the Freon deaths, 42 percent were students or youth with a mean age of 16.4 years.
• Suffocation, inhaling fluid or vomit into the lungs, and accidents each cause about 15% of deaths linked to inhalant abuse. 
• National Institute on Drug Abuse’s ‘Monitoring the Future’ study reveals that inhalant abuse among 8th graders is up 7.7% since 2002.   
• 55% of deaths linked to inhalant abuse are caused by “Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome.”  SSDS can occur on the first use or any use.  The Inhalant causes the heart to beat rapidly and erratically, resulting in cardiac arrest. 
• 22% of inhalant abusers who died of SSDS had no history of previous inhalant abuse. In other words, they were first-time users.

Requested Actions:

Protection of our citizens from the dangers of Freon, by enacting the following safety ordinances:­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

• Require that all new installations of HVAC and A/C units be outfitted with a locking cap.
• Require existing HVAC and A/C units be retrofitted within five years.
• Require vendors (retail and commercial) to keep all Freon products behind the counter and sold only to licensed individuals.