Pubdate: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2004 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Maxine Mendelssohn DEATH AT FIRST WHIFF HAS COME TO SUBURBIA Although most of us look well adjusted and grown up, the reality is that occasional, recreational drug use is widespread in my generation. Whether it's cocaine lines in the bathroom of a bar or a marijuana joint in Jeanne Mance Park, a lot of 20-somethings still dabble in drugs. Most ended their drug experimentation period after teenage walks on the wild side and have settled on a small selection of narcotics they use once in a while without feeling like old-lady-robbing junkies. I've never met anyone whose shortlist included sniffing solvents. In fact, my sources tell me even seasoned revellers on the St. Laurent Blvd. party circuit who have rarely seen a narcotic they didn't embrace seem to draw the line at sniffing solvents. Substances like shellac and varnish aren't even drugs. They're poisons, which doesn't make them seem alluring, fun or soothing - essential characteristics for any recreational drug. Inhaling lighter fluid, sniffing airplane glue or huffing a paint thinner-soaked rag seems like a desperate thing to do. It's an act that reeks not of a need for attention, like the current mini-fad of self-mutilation or multiple facial piercing, but of sheer despair. In two failed attempts to get high, the deadly threat of sniffing became reality last week for a 17-year-old boy in Longueuil and a 16-year-old boy in Mont St. Gregoire. In both cases, the teens died after inhaling fumes from a container of butane gas. The only inhalant I've ever been around is nitrous oxide, or laughing gas. Although illegal, nitrous is sometimes sold at outdoor concerts in the United States, I saw this first-hand at a Phish concert in Miami. Across the street from the American Airlines Arena, where the band was jamming, a cluster of pedlars was selling everything from sandwiches to friendship bracelets to nitrous oxide. Five bucks got you a red balloon filled with the gas, which was then inhaled. Society has come to terms with the fact that almost every kid will try marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes. But what about inhalants? The recent deaths have proved solvent-sniffing is not just for intoxicated itinerants like those at the Guy-Concordia metro station. Sniffing has come to suburbia. Solvents like glue, nail polish remover and aerosols are cheap and can be easily and legally purchased in stores all over. So kids who want to get high don't face the tedious tasks of finding a marijuana dealer or someone over 18 to buy them beer. While raising awareness about the problem is important, sometimes even just talking about it can lead to experimentation. The embarrassingly titled teenpuberty.com Web site has a section intended to warn against the use of inhalants but ends up reading like an eerie "how to." "Inhalants are ordinary household products inhaled or sniffed by children to get high," the site informs visitors. "Examples of products kids abuse to get high include model airplane glue, nail polish remover and hair spray. These products are sniffed or snorted . to achieve a high." This buzz reportedly lasts only a couple of minutes. The person may feel lightheaded and see bright lights and colours - but they can also have a heart attack, even on their first try. Sniffing junk like this is like playing Russian roulette, because your life hangs in the balance. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin