Stuck on glue?

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Teenager plunges from OUT NOW - Class Fighter no. 13. Articles on FE students, Brixton Sounds, Kent's gagging of Youth CND. Also featuring Saul's Moles. 10p plur 12½p postage from 214 Sickert Court, London N1 them down this Sunday, 1Ith, to the 'No more Chiles' demonstration (Ipm, Clerkenwell Green, Lundon). This is the demonstration which Bruce Kent has been going on about in his aitacks on

THE subject of glue sniffing may induce alarm or excitement (according to who you are!)

Much of the alarm is caused by ignorant scaremongering by papers or politicians. GS is not necessarily worse than other types of drug use, legal or illegal, but there is still cause for some concern."

People who get high by sniffing adhesives are actually breathing in vapour from the solvents. that the glues are dissolved in. People also breathe solvents from other products. So we should talk about 'solvent inhaling' (SI), rather than GS.

The solvents commonly inhaled** (see table) are all organic chemicals (from substances produced by living things) which turn into vapour easily.

The most common solvent that gets you high is alcohol. Alcohol can be inhaled (hence the term 'snifter') but is usually drunk.

Solvents

Some of these solvents are similar to anaestheties. Inhaling them causes lightheadedness, giddiness, confusion and drowsiness. Larger amounts can cause halucinations, unconsciousness, and, in overdose, death - just like • alcehol (also an anaesthetic). Other effects may also occur, eg. headaches and vomiting (familiar to some alcohol users). Regular sniffers often have symptoms like a permanent cold and cough, with a rash around the nose and mouth and general listlessness.

There is no firm evidence for any permanent damage, particularly with acetone or toluene. Only with fluorocarbons (aerosols) is there a serious risk from the solvent itself. Sudden death sometimes occurs atter inhaling these. Also, directly inhaling the spray may coat the lungs, causing suffocation.

Addiction to solvents is dent.

But there are health risks 2SY.

Get out your Youth CND banners and bring with even the safest solvents.

First, some inhalers put the substance in a plastic bag which they hold over their mouths and noses, or even put over their heads. This can lead to suffocation, particularly if the victim loses consciousness.

Second, unconscious inhalers can vomit and then choke.

Third, loss of co-ordination and hallucinations can cause accidental injury and death. Disapproval of GS often leads inhalers to use dangerous areas, like derelict buildings or canal banks:

The number of injuries from SI, while trivial compared to those from, say, alcohol consumption, is worrying., So what can be done?

Attempts to prosecute shopkeepers who sell glue to youngsters may just push kids onto other more dangerous products, like aerosols or petrol. Making SI itself a criminal offence would just result in a lot of kids having records.

The drug counselling organisation Release has a different approach. Their 1981 pamphlet, 'Sniffing Glue'* describes clearly the health *available 46p post paid from Release, 1, Elgin Ave., London W9 3PR.

Products/Solvents Adhesives/acetone, toluene Dry cleaners/tetrachloromethane, etc.

Hair lacquer/methanol, alcohi Lighter refills/butane Nail polish remover/acetone, amyl acetate Aerosols/fluorocarbons Petrol/benzene, etc.

fleet stationed off Nicaragua.

Midlands banner.

with a "Join the YS' leaflet. problems and dangers of SI and explains how to deal with accidents. It warns against using glue to avoid your problems, but doesn't criticise people who inhale solvents. And it gives a list of do's and don't for those determined to go on with it. plunges S2202 P8S, 35512 3939: A: 02.

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rare, though inhalers may become psychologically depen-

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