Caught in the act, they tell teachers:
I'm a student, you can't touch me YOU can't get me arrested, I'm still a student.
That's what teachers were told by some glue-sniffing students.
The teachers recounted this to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
The students were bold enough to challenge them, the teachers said.
This has the CNB concerned. They have seen this kind of thing before - in the 1980s.
Glue-sniffing was a scourge then, with more than 1,112 abusers arrested in 1987.
The number is much lower now.
But the latest figures from CNB show an increase. The five-year average went up by 30 arrests last year.
The CNB released the average figures for five-year blocks.
Between 2001 and 2005, it said there were an average of 160 inhalant abusers arrested annually.
Most were below 20.
But between 2002 and 2006, the number went up to an average of 190 abusers arrested.
Said Assistant Superintendent of Police John (not his real name): 'The situation is much better now, but unfortunately, the profile of a glue-sniffer between the '80s and now is no different.
'Quite a number of them are students and this concerns me.'
About 70 per cent of those arrested were below 20. And half of this group were students.
John said the inhalant of choice among abusers this time is contact cement, the kind used on airfix models and for school projects.
A check by The New Paper found that a tube costs only 80cents.
Two brands had warning labels printed at the back of their packages advising customers to keep them from children and to avoid inhaling their vapour.
John had just given a talk on glue-sniffing to a secondary school that had four cases this year.
He has been to five schools in the last three weeks.
John was a supervisor for CNB's anti-glue-sniffing unit in 1984 when it was formed to combat the menace.
The 33-year veteran of the force said he never wants to go back to the '80s when glue-sniffing spread like the whiff of death.
On 23 Jul, The New Paper highlighted the return of glue-sniffing in schools.
And CNB has, since the beginning of August, stepped up visits to schools to give talks. It focuses on the harm inhalants can do to the body, like causing slurred speech, brain damage and death.
John said the habit was popular as materials like paint thinner and bicycle glue were affordable and sold openly.
He recalled raiding chalets where students hung out during school holidays in the '80s.
Out came a can of glue and it would be passed around.
He said: 'There was one chalet we raided after the security guard complained about noisy teenagers.
'We found a small can of glue and took seven youths back to Bedok Police Station.
'Some claimed they were doing a school project but the others admitted they were all sniffing glue.'
Their parents and school were informed.
John recalled raiding construction sites 20 years ago as foreign workers were also sniffing glue.
He went to Bedok Reservoir after addicts sniffed glue there and drowned.
He added: 'Glue-sniffing was rampant then because youths thought it was not harmful like heroin.
'There was a sense of urgency for our unit to solve the problem because youths were involved.
'We had to bring the numbers down.'
He said glue-sniffing was finally overcome because of public education and cooperation from schools.
FIGHT BACK
To make sure they don't go back to the '80s, some adult first-time abusers may be put under direct CNB supervision.
That means they have to report to a police station and meet a CNB officer who will warn them of the legal consequences of their actions.
Repeat offenders will be sent for rehabilitation at the inhalant treatment centre at Selarang Park, run by the Singapore Prison Service.
Another step being taken is contacting shops where glue and similar materials are being sold.
Four weeks ago, CNB sent out notices to these shops on the dangers of glue sniffing and advised them not to sell inhalant products to young people and students.
source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...40812,00.html? 
I'm a student, you can't touch me 
