DEATHS BY SNIFFING 'TERRIFY' DRUG EXPERT

QUEBEC -- The head of a network of Canadian drug treatment centres
said yesterday he's "terrified" the deaths of two Quebec teens from
inhaling solvents may be the beginning of a new trend.

The sniffing of solvents, petroleum products and other toxic
substances, long a plague in native communities across Canada, killed
two teenagers in the Montreal area this week.

A 17-year-old boy was found dead in his home in Longueuil near
Montreal on Monday. A 16-year-old boy was found dead in his home in
Mont-St-Gregoire, about 40 kilometres to the southeast, less than 24
hours earlier.

In both cases, bottles of butane, a liquified petroleum gas used in
lighters, lanterns and stoves, were found near the bodies. Police in
both cases are waiting for autopsy results to determine the exact
cause of death.

"We're terrified of this," said Peter Vamos, the Montreal-based
director of the Portage Program for Drug Dependencies, a string of 10
private treatment clinics in Ontario, Quebec and the

Maritimes. "These substances are lethal and can be lethal immediately.
They can cause permanent and irreparable damage and they are highly
addictive. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope these two kids in
Quebec are not the tip of an iceberg."

The deaths prompted Vamos to order a quick survey yesterday of 200
teenagers in his treatment centres in Eastern Canada.

About 25 per cent of the teenagers admitted their drug abuse began
with sniffing solvents or gases like butane.

Vamos said most of the children moved on to drugs after two or three
attempts because sniffing toxic substances is extremely unpleasant and
the high only lasts a few minutes.

"It's certainly not the drug of choice for most people doing drugs,
but it's an easy way into drugs for young kids," Vamos said.

"It's a gateway substance because it's cheap, it's available and it's
legal. You can go down to a depanneur (corner store) or any hardware
store and get what you need." "We want to be careful because we don't
want to give ideas to other people," said Const. Ronald Mc Innis of
works out of the Mont-St-Gregoire detachment.