SNIFF-PROOF FUEL CAN SAVE LIVES

Mickey Aquash thinks it's a price worth paying.

The worker at the White Swan youth rehab centre in Kinuso, three hours
north of Edmonton, says it would be worth it for people in remote
northern communities to pay an extra 30 cents per litre for gas, if it
meant that kids in the community couldn't get high sniffing the fuel's
fumes.

"The question is, is it worth it for the health of your kids and
grandkids?" Aquash asks.

Every day, Aquash sees the devastation wreaked by gas and solvent
sniffing. White Swan is one of a handful of federally funded rehab
centres for teens with a special emphasis on sniffers.

It's an epidemic in isolated communities, particularly in the north
and on native reserves.

Kids, sometimes as young as nine or 10 years old, will stick their
faces in a plastic bag with a small amount of gasoline in it, breathe
deeply and get an instant high that lasts for a few moments.

But while the buzz lasts only a few seconds, the damage they're doing
to their bodies can be long-term, even permanent.

"It destroys their motor skills and cognitive abilities," Aquash
says.

It's particularly devastating for young teens in puberty, whose bodies
and brains are already going through massive changes. Aquash says that
sniffing during this delicate juncture in a person's development could
wreak utter havoc.

The issue of sniffing, or huffing, in Canada's isolated communities
got international attention in the early 1990s, when a television
camera crew captured young children sniffing gas in a neglected and
squalid native community in Labrador called Davis Inlet. The world
looked on in horror as the kids staggered around and screamed that
they wanted to die (those kids were later brought to Poundmaker's
Lodge Treatment Centre in St. Albert for rehab and
counseling).

While the Davis Inlet tragedy was extreme, it was hardly an isolated
case. For a myriad of reasons far too complex to address here, there
are communities across the country that are struggling with the same
problems of despair, nihilism and self-destruction among their youth.

SURVIVAL

Making it even more difficult to tackle is that the "drug" of choice -
in this case, gasoline - is vital to each community's survival.

It's not like crack or crystal meth or even booze, which serves no
other purpose. But gas? How on earth do you limit its availability
without ruinous effects?

British Petroleum and the Australian government have found one
possible solution - sniff-proof fuel.

It's been done with certain glues for years. It's chemically treated
so that it doesn't give off the vapours that make people high. BP has
developed a process that does the same for gasoline, and it's now
available in some aboriginal communities in Australia, where they've
been grappling with the same problem.

But here's the catch: the refining process is costly. BP figures it
costs about 30 cents per litre extra to produce the fuel, which is
called Opal.

The Australian government is so committed to providing Opal to
communities in need of the sniff-proof gas that it's subsidizing it.

"Sounds like a really good idea to me," says Aquash.

BP doesn't have a refinery in Canada, so at present there's no supply
available here, but the Canadian Press recently reported that the
corporation is willing to share its formula with other producers.

Aboriginal organizations in Newfoundland are reportedly working on
trying to bring Opal to their area.

It's something local native groups should consider. And given all the
money oil companies are making in Albera, this would be a perfect way
for them to give a little back.