Drugs Charities Call Upon Party Leaders to Take Action Against Legal Highs

Via World Net Daily News

This article summarizes the recent London meeting of four drug charities: Legal highs awareness charity, Angelus, Northamptonshire-based charity, and Solve It. The charities called upon party leaders to act against the dangers of legal highs. 

Their joint report "Legal Highs: An Action Plan for Change”, published June 26^th, sets out how Departments should be coordinating efforts on education, prevention, and information sharing. 

The full report can be read here.

Deodorant Pulled From Shelves in Australia Because of Inhalant Abuse

Via ABC News in Australia:

Rexona deodorant has been pulled from supermarket shelves in Australia and is now being sold from behind the counter due to a “spiraling rate of inhalant abuse by the town’s children.” In the last two weeks, the Central Australian Youth Link Up Service (CAYUS) has collected almost 500 used cans of deodorant from public places.  A CAYUS manager notes that the situation is “out of control” and that a large number of young children are involved with “more than 50 kids under 12 who have been referred to welfare because of their sniffing.”

New Volatile Substance Abuse Decree in Fiji

 Via the Fiji TimesOnline:

After noting 212 inhalant abuse cases in 2011, Fiji has drafted a “Volatile Substance Abuse Decree.” The article notes: “Under the draft decree, a person who sells or supplies a volatile substance to a child in circumstances where it is reasonable to suspect that the child may inhale or use it to become intoxicated, commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine not exceeding $5000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.”

A special task force from the Fiji Police Force will review and provide comments and the National Substance Abuse Advisory Council has also proposed a list of new volatile substances that should be included under the decree.

Report: 2010 Drug Use Among Young People In England

Via NHS Information Centre's 2011 report, Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2010

New data from the NHS Information Centre finds that among 11-15 year-olds, 28% of adolescents reported ever being offered any drugs. They were most likely to have been offered cannabis (18%) or volatile substances (10%). However, there has been a decrease in the number of adolescents who reported inhaling volatile substances, from 5.5% in 2009 to 3.8% in 2010.

However, for 73% of 11 and 12 year olds who had taken drugs in the last year, it was restricted to inhaling volatile substances. Volatile substance abuse continues to be the most common form of drug misuse among 11-12 year olds, and second only to cannabis across the whole 11-15 age group.

Australia Changes Huffing Related Laws

From TestCountry.com

The Northern Territory Government recently approved changes to the Volatile Substance Abuse Prevention Act. The changes to the law “increase the amount of time a user can be kept in treatment from two to four months.” Additionally, the change “also reduces the amount of time it takes to get treatment orders.”

Previously, the minister had to determine whether treatment was necessary but now, the Chief Medical Officer can help speed up the response time and start treatment.

Inhalant Abuse Prevention in Other Regions

From Drug Education News, something we'll be closely keeping an eye on:

"The Australian government has published a review of interventions that have been aimed at Volatile Substance Abuse. Here’s what their executive summary says about education interventions:

Australian educational authorities continue to pursue a policy of not providing education about VSM [Volatile Substance Misuse] under school-based drug education programs, on the grounds that such education may inadvertently encourage experimentation with inhalants.

Some information about volatile substances is provided through occupational health and safety training. In England and Wales, by contrast, schools are required to include information about solvents in drug education programs. The UK Government is currently funding a five-year follow up study of the impact of school-based drug education on subsequent drug use.

Education targeting known inhalants appears to be ineffective when it adopts scare tactics. However, education highlighting the potential impact of VSM on valued activities, such as capacity to play sport, may be useful.

Education about inhalants for parents and professional people likely to come into contact with VSM, such as teachers and welfare workers, and for communities where VSM occurs, has been shown to be of value.

Skills training, remedial education and employment have all been shown to contribute to reducing VSM.