TEEN NABBED FOR GLUE-SNIFFING THREE TIMES IN A YEAR, BUT SAYS: 'I'm not addicted'

TEEN NABBED FOR GLUE-SNIFFING THREE TIMES IN A YEAR, BUT SAYS: 'I'm not addicted'

This misperception common among offenders, who are still mostly the young

By Andre Yeo
January 31, 2009

WHILE most 14-year-olds are meeting up with friends after school, Joan has to meet up with a different kind of crowd.


PROBLEM AMONG YOUTH: Seven in 10 of those arrested for inhalant abuse last year were under 20 years old, with the youngest just 12 years old. ST FILE PICTURE

She meets officers at the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) twice a week after she was arrested for glue-sniffing at age 13.

A CNB spokesman said Joan (we are not using her real name as she is a minor) was one of the youngest glue-sniffers arrested so far.

The youngest glue-sniffer nabbed last year was 12.

Though figures on inhalant abuse showed a decrease from 644 arrested in 2007 to 615 last year, it is young people like Joan that the CNB is concerned about.

The reason: Nearly 70 per cent of those arrested last year were below 20.

CNB released its annual drug statistics yesterday. (See figures below.)

Speaking to The New Paper at the office last Tuesday, Joan, who will turn 15 this year, said she first tried glue-sniffing in Secondary 1 at a friend's home.

The Normal (Academic) student said she tried it as she wanted to forget her family problems.


TO GET HIGH: Tubes of contact cement, used by glue sniffers. 'Joan' used to get through two to three tubes a week. ST FILE PICTURE

Her parents were constantly arguing, she said.

Joan also felt her parents were not giving her the attention she craved as they doted more on her younger siblings, aged 7 and 6.

Said Joan: 'Maybe they felt I am the eldest so I know more things and they would not need to talk to me.'

Feeling down and hearing from friends that sniffing glue could help her feel better, she took her first whiff in November2007.

From then on, she would sniff glue two to three times a week, using a tube of contact cement each time. She said a tube used to cost 70 cents, but now costs $1 to $2.

But the next month, her father suspected something was amiss when she reeked of glue. Relations between the two had been strained for years.

Dad called cops
With communication between father and daughter non-existent, he didn't wait for her to explain and called the police. Two officers went to their flat to arrest her.

After she was tested positive for inhalant abuse by the Health Sciences Authority, she was given a warning.

But six months later, last June, she relapsed.

Three police officers arrested her and a friend at a multi-storey carpark while they were sniffing glue.

In September last year, she reported to the CNB office at Ang Mo Kio Police Divisional HQ twice a week.

But about two months later, she had another relapse.

Again, the informant was her father.

Joan said: 'My father smelled glue on my body and before I could answer him, he called the police.'

She now has to report to the CNB office until November this year.

Despite two relapses, Joan doesn't think she is an addict.

She said: 'I won't be tempted to do this. I can think better. I won't try to avoid it because I am not addicted.'

The office Joan reports to has been headed by CNB's Deputy Superintendent, Lucy (not her real name), 34, for the past four years.

The CNB requested that we do not use Lucy's real name as she conducts raids and undercover operations against drug addicts and traffickers.

She said some parents did not keep tabs on whom their children mixed with and they often reacted with shock when they received a call from a CNB officer informing them that their children have been arrested.

Her office is responsible for monitoring the drug situation in Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, Yishun, Sengkang and Punggol.

She said the common misconception about glue-sniffing among youths like Joan was that it was not serious.

Said Lucy: 'Many of them did not think they were committing a crime. They thought they were making a mistake and not committing an offence.'

She said some supervisees were so high, they even reported to CNB with plastic bags with traces of glue in them.

Said Lucy: 'When they are on it, they don't think rationally. They get forgetful.'

Serious response
Once there is evidence they have succumbed to their old ways, Lucy said CNB will arrest them immediately and send them to hospitals for blood tests.

Adults who test positive for inhalant abuse will be sent to the Selarang Park Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Changi for treatment.

Juveniles may have their supervisee order extended from the usual six months , depending on whether it was their first time.

Those who relapse too often will be sent to the Juvenile Court where they will be charged with inhalant abuse.

For inhalant abuse, you can be admitted to a rehabilitation centre for treatment for up to six months.

You can also be jailed up to six months or fined $2,000 fine or both.

Source: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,191308,00.html?