Air freshener the new killer drug
By Louise Perry and Vanessa Walker
December 29, 2003
AIR fresheners that retail for as little as $1.50 have emerged as the deadly drug of choice for many children and teenagers in Australia and New Zealand.
Dubbed "huffing", the trend of inhaling cheap air fresheners has caused three teenage deaths in one month in New Zealand.
Experts in Australia believe the practice is increasingly popular as a rite of passage for children as young as 12.
A 1999 survey of 25,480 schoolchildren by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre found 26 per cent of children aged 12-17 had used inhalants.
The survey revealed almost a third of all 12-year-olds had used inahalants to get high.
The centre's information manager at the University of NSW, Paul Dillon, said inhalants killed numerous people each year, but the number was difficult to quantify because the cause of death was often classified as "other" in coroners' reports.
"We call it sudden sniffing death, and while the figures are all over the shop, it is definitely a big problem," Mr Dillon said.
He said children as young as primary school age in Australia had tried aerosol "huffing", although many did not develop a habit because of bad hangover effects that include debilitating headaches.
"The attraction for young people is that aerosol cans, like air freshener, is inexpensive and available and the high is just like being drunk, but many of them don't go back to it because of the hangover effect," Mr Dillon said.
A 17-year-old girl died on Christmas morning in New Zealand after spending two weeks in a coma from inhaling an air freshener.
Two other New Zealand girls, aged 15 and 16, also died after "huffing" air freshener. A 15-year-old Auckland boy died from inhaling butane gas, and a 14-year-old girl from near Wellington died last year after inhaling flyspray.
New Zealand Criminal Investigation Branch detective Max Taylor said the Environment, Science and Research agency was analysing the chemical constituents to see if they had become lethal to inhale in recent years.
He said police were concerned that teenagers were spreading information about the cheap high without knowing it was fatal. It appears death is caused by a slowing of the heart.
"It's cheaper than most drugs and alcohol, and causes no suspicions from supermarkets or parents when kids buy it," Mr Taylor said.
In a paper on inhalant abuse by young people presented at an Australian Institute of Criminology conference in 2001, it was reported that abuse of inhalants was not limited to any racial group but was prevalent among young people from low socio-economic backgrounds.
By Louise Perry and Vanessa Walker
December 29, 2003
AIR fresheners that retail for as little as $1.50 have emerged as the deadly drug of choice for many children and teenagers in Australia and New Zealand.
Dubbed "huffing", the trend of inhaling cheap air fresheners has caused three teenage deaths in one month in New Zealand.
Experts in Australia believe the practice is increasingly popular as a rite of passage for children as young as 12.
A 1999 survey of 25,480 schoolchildren by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre found 26 per cent of children aged 12-17 had used inhalants.
The survey revealed almost a third of all 12-year-olds had used inahalants to get high.
The centre's information manager at the University of NSW, Paul Dillon, said inhalants killed numerous people each year, but the number was difficult to quantify because the cause of death was often classified as "other" in coroners' reports.
"We call it sudden sniffing death, and while the figures are all over the shop, it is definitely a big problem," Mr Dillon said.
He said children as young as primary school age in Australia had tried aerosol "huffing", although many did not develop a habit because of bad hangover effects that include debilitating headaches.
"The attraction for young people is that aerosol cans, like air freshener, is inexpensive and available and the high is just like being drunk, but many of them don't go back to it because of the hangover effect," Mr Dillon said.
A 17-year-old girl died on Christmas morning in New Zealand after spending two weeks in a coma from inhaling an air freshener.
Two other New Zealand girls, aged 15 and 16, also died after "huffing" air freshener. A 15-year-old Auckland boy died from inhaling butane gas, and a 14-year-old girl from near Wellington died last year after inhaling flyspray.
New Zealand Criminal Investigation Branch detective Max Taylor said the Environment, Science and Research agency was analysing the chemical constituents to see if they had become lethal to inhale in recent years.
He said police were concerned that teenagers were spreading information about the cheap high without knowing it was fatal. It appears death is caused by a slowing of the heart.
"It's cheaper than most drugs and alcohol, and causes no suspicions from supermarkets or parents when kids buy it," Mr Taylor said.
In a paper on inhalant abuse by young people presented at an Australian Institute of Criminology conference in 2001, it was reported that abuse of inhalants was not limited to any racial group but was prevalent among young people from low socio-economic backgrounds.
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