GLUE FOR CASH

GLUE, the type used as narcotics is becoming a money earner for
certain shops who retail the product after hours at much higher prices
to those who use it for sniffing.

According to taxi drivers, glue has become the new high for many
street kids and 'working girls' as police raids have affected
marijuana supply into the city.

Vishal Nand, 31, a taxi driver, said many street kids and sex workers
hired only certain taxi drivers, drivers they trusted and used glue to
get their high.

"For us drivers, they pay us and we transport them, but most of the
time it is the night cruises they pay most money for. I have in the
past two months noticed some shops in Toorak, Samabula and Raiwaqa
selling glue for as much as $6 a can," he said.

A survey by Fiji Times, revealed that the average cost of a can of
glue in question comes to $3.40 in hardware stores.

Nand said they would reach their desired designated spot, sniffed
glue, got back in the taxi and took a ride back to the city. "They
always pay and they pay good," he said.

Ami Chand, 58, a career taxi driver said in his 30 year taxi career he
had noticed all these things happened.

"It's glue now, in the late 1990s and early and mid 2000s, marijuana
was the craze and the alcohol blackmarket have always been there.
Shopkeepers do not care about the users, they are getting more returns
on their product," said Chand.

Police assistant spokesman Inspector Atunaisa Sokomuri said police
would take action against those found to be sniffing glue but when it
came down to shops, it's legal to buy glue.

"We would ask shopkeepers to be exercise caution and refuse sale of
such products which can be used as a narcotic to anyone who looks
suspicious," he said.

Studies on glue sniffing have shown that the vapour from sniffing glue
clots windpipes and tracheal cavities.

Glue sniffing induces a state of hallucination not unlike an
inebriated condition marked by incoherent speech, inability to
maintain balance and discern things clearly.

The immediate effects of glue sniffing can lead to suffocation and
unconsciousness which could be fatal as the fumes depress the
respiratory system and rate of heart-beats.