Australian Youth Organization Encourages Stores to Lock Up Aerosols

Via: ABC Australia

Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia - A youth organization from the small, mining town of Mount Isa is urging stores to lock up aerosol products, such as deodorant to minimize abuse. The organization reports that many of the stores, both major and independent, are compliant with their requests but they hope to win over retailers more unsure about making the change. Authorities note that aerosol misuse has declined the past year, but they also acknowledge that it is a difficult statistic to track and thus precautions such as these should be taken.  

Wagga’s Historic Rail Gatehouse trashed by huffing teenager

Via: The Daily Advertiser

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia: Wagga’s Gatehouse is deteriorated rapidly after a string of school children set fire to the building after using it as a location to huff aerosol deodorant. 

12-Year-Old Australian Boy Dies From Huffing

Via The Sydney Morning Herald

A 12-year-old Alice Springs, Australian boy died due to inhalant abuse.  The boy was found unconscious in a parking lot between two retail complexes.  Police were called to the scene and the boy was transported to a local hospital, but despite best efforts, the boy passed away.   Early investigations show that the use of inhalants was a factor in his death.  

Man Huffs Gas While Smoking a Cigarette in Australia

Via the Crime Library (case from Australia):

On December 18, 2013 a neighbor told police she heard an explosion, ran outside and found a disheveled man with a completely burned off beard sitting on her patio demanding food. When police arrived the man admitted he had entered the shed with a lit cigarette while sniffing gas when the fire started.  He was charged with arson and unlawfully entering the shed.  This past week at the preliminary hearing the man's attorney argued for a lesser charge of negligence.

Deodorant Abuse in Australia

Via NT News in Australia:

 After a surge in abuse of deodorant, the product was taken from the shelves and sold from behind the counter. The product manufacturer is working with the Central Australian Youth Link-Up Service (CAYLUS) to determine whether changing the product composition will deter its abuse.

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.”

Australia Concerned About the Increase in Inhalant Abuse in Britain

Via News.com in Australia:

The article notes the increase in young teens abusing nitrous oxide (more commonly referred to by the slang term “hippy crack”) in Britain. British government statistics report more than 350,000 young people as having used the gas as a party or festival drug in the past year.

Australian drug experts are concerned that Australians will follow the trend. According to the National Drug Strategy Household Survey in 2010, nearly 4 per cent of Australians aged over 14 have used inhalants at some stage in their life.