SOLVENT ABUSE UNLEGISLATED PROBLEM: HAMPTON

If NDP Leader Howard Hampton gets his way, Ontario may be the next province
to pass a legislation giving police the power to seize solvents off of
addicts and to pull licences from retailers who are caught selling sniff to
addicts.

Thanks to Manitoba's Health Minister Dave Chomiak, that province's solvent
abusers may find it a little tougher to get their hands on sniff (cleaners,
glue, paint and nail polish, among others) since a new legislation was
approved last week.

Under the new act, police and public health workers will be able to search
those suspected of having solvents for sniffing. Businesses who are caught
selling to addicts can lose their licence to sell goods and services or gas.

Hampton, also the MPP for Kenora-Rainy River, thinks Manitoba is on the
right track to lowering its high number of solvent abusers.

"I have to say this is probably the most comprehensive move that I've seen
to get at this issue," Hampton said Friday from Toronto.

Between bills to get the minimum wage raised and door-to-door Hydro
salesmen banned, Hampton has explored this issue as a possibility for a
future private members bills.

"I have a long list of things I think about in terms of private members
bills and this is one of them," Hampton said. "In a number of communities
this is a serious problem. Public health workers and community health
workers are asking for assistance, asking for the tools to be able to do
something.

"This is something that would be worthwhile putting forward. It's something
I've gathered some information on."

Hampton said before he would put forward a bill similar to the one passed
in Manitoba, he would talk to municipal and First Nation leaders to gather
their thoughts on the issue.

"Some of the First Nations will tell you this is a problem and wish there
were more tools to get at the sellers and the people who actually deal in
this stuff," Hampton said. "Many First Nations have passed band resolutions
prohibiting the importation of alcohol or drugs of any kind into the
community. For example, in the far north, if you fly into the community on
a passenger plane you and your luggage are inspected right at the airport.
But solvents and things like that are more difficult - slightly a different
story."

He would also look to the public health sector for the opinion of Pete
Sarsfield, medical officer of health, and others.

Although Sarsfield said there is a "significant amount" of solvent abusers
in Kenora, he maintains there are other more pressing issues to deal with.
Cigarettes and alcohol are the top two addictions, he pointed out.

"This is no where near the most addictive substance that we're selling,"
Sarsfield said. "For us to be focusing on the much smaller, but
significant, problems such as cannabis and solvents, et cetera, we're
really not focusing on the big problem. We're focusing on the small problem
because we can get away with that."

What he means is that solvent abusers don't have the power or the means to
fight such a law, whereas people who smoke and drink alcohol may be more
reluctant to abide by such a law.

"Solvent abusers don't have a huge political lobby - they aren't able to
hire a lot of lawyers to fight things like this," Sarsfield said. "So on
the one hand, yeah this is appropriate, but on the other hand, why pick
solvents?

"Even if you are just looking at illegal drugs, there are other things
sniffed in this society, such as crack, I'm told. I'm told there's a lot of
crack (cocaine) floating around Northwestern Ontario. Usually though,
people who use that are more affluent, more politically and legally capable
of defending themselves. Focusing on solvent abusers is an easy target. I
think it is a worthwhile target, but it should be well down the list of
priorities. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing this, I'm just
curious why solvents."

Police are already responsible for getting illegal drugs off the streets,
Hampton said. Adding solvents to the list would just make sense.

"In respect to solvents, you're really not dealing with materials or things
that are covered by criminal legislation, so police in fact would have
virtually no enforcement capacity," he said. "If you're going to get at
that part of the problem, because it's not covered by the criminal code and
not covered by the Narcotics Control Act, you literally have to pass
legislation like this in order to have any effect on it. I wouldn't dispute
the fact you're dealing with people who probably have a lower income, and
probably in terms of political and economic power in society, have very
little."

Some communities already have the capacity to deal with alcohol problems,
such as not selling products in excess.

"So someone who comes in and wants to buy, for example, 24 bottles of
whiskey ... the amber light goes off," Hampton said.

Of course, a law that involves retailers having to make the call on who can
and can't buy solvents is a little touchy. Hampton said guidelines would
have to be put in place and employees would have to exercise discretion.

Sarsfield has seen the effects of solvent abuse with his own eyes. He has
worked in Labrador, Northern Manitoba and the Northwest Territories and
said many times, the result of long-term sniffing can be brain damage. He
said the effects are "very severe."

"I've worked a lot of my adult life where there was sniffing," Sarsfield said.

"It leads to brain damage, not always, but often, and the brain damage if
often leads to is very severe."

Users also experienced memory losses and behaviour problems. Some were
found frozen to death, while others caught fire.

"This stuff is very flammable and they are often, if it's winter, near a
fire. (They would) catch on fire and really go up like a torch." Babies
born to mothers who sniff while pregnant can also suffer brain damage at
birth, which can be permanent, Sarsfield said.