Inhalant Abuse Popular on Street

The Narconon Program of Atlanta, Georgia was featured in TransWorldNews today for their work with reducing inhalant use amongst homeless youth in cities worldwide. They describe the conditions of life on the street and the appeal of inhalants, explaining that,

"One way to stave off hunger pains, and help them forget where they are, is to take drugs. While many children, who can be as young as 5 years old, may drink alcohol, smoke weed, or do other hard drugs, the majority prefer to “fly,” huffing glue.

Yes, glue. Glue made to repair shoes is the drug of choice for these homeless children. For a few pennies, which they can always beg, or steal (borrowing is not in their vocabulary), the pain brought on by hunger, heat, cold, or the simple fact that they were abandoned, can be alleviated by huffing.

Give them an empty soda bottle, or a plastic bag, a few pennies worth of shoe glue, called “Resistol” (trademark) in Latin America, and they can forget. Be happy. Sleep."

They have several initiatives in place in order to combat this trend, such as an orphanage in Honduras, which

"has been getting kids off the streets and into a safe environment through dedication of their staff and with the help of Narconon Drug Rehab and other Atlanta charity groups.

Narconon of Georgia helped a Honduran medical doctor establish the Narconon New Life Detoxification Program in this orphanage to aid in the growing epidemic of addicted street orphans in their country.

The sauna program had astounding results with the children and has been praised by the Dr. Vega as being beneficial to the children in their drug rehab efforts."

One of the counselors at the orphanage stated that,

"The children arrive here and behave like little animals. They have no moral code, won't listen to anyone, run wild. However, the Narconon Sauna Program removes the toxins from their bodies and they become happier, more social, like little children again. They become social people."

Mary Rieser, Narcanon's Executive Director, says that

“Narconon of Georgia staff have a special place in their heart for children. It is one thing to admit a full grown adult into drug rehab, but to see a young child passed out in the streets because they are drunk or high is very sad. These children have no hope unless we do something about it.”

There is also a video available with the article that further explains these issues.