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Residents of the northeast Missouri town of Hannibal are grieving the death of a 12-year-old girl who inhaled aerosol hair spray in an apparent attempt to get high. KSMU's Alvin Chen talks to a local school counselor to see how bad the problem is here.
Authorities believe Sierrah Yarbrough accidentally poisoned herself "huffing" the hair spray. The US Department of Justice estimates that more than one million people- mostly ages 12 to 17-abuse inhalants to get high.
Jim Carlson is a drug and alcohol counselor for Springfield Public Schools. He says, fortunately, the number of cases of inhalant use has been very low in Springfield, but that doesn't mean schools and parents should overlook the problem.
According to Carlson, schools in Springfield are making an effort to prevent students from abusing inhalants.
Experts say that more elementary school students than ever are abusing inhalants, such as glue, rubber cement and cleaning supplies. They remind parents to talk to their kids, and tell them many people have died from the first time they tried inhaling these products.
For KSMU News, I'm Alvin Chen.
