Angul: Glue sniffing and substance abuse are two most common things which need attention of the authorities concerned to put an end to the menace of addiction among street children.
Children rummaging through piles of garbage is a very common site . But, what do they look for? Other than the routine stuff that can be recycled they have their eyes on glue or dendrite which gives them a high on sniffing. Some also spend the meagre earnings from garbage collection in purchasing the glue from hardware stores.
One such incident of street children sniffing the glue came to the fore in Odisha’s Angul. These children were caught on camera by a local media house while sniffing dendrite from tubes.
The children leave their homes after both parents leave for work and then beg for money. After collecting money, the children aged between 10 to 15, buy the glue from hardware store at Rs 35.
The children first transferred the contents on to a piece of cloth or in a plastic bag and then used to sniff. In other incidents children empty the paste into a plastic bag and sniff it from time to time.
In most cases, after a few minutes of sniffing they get an high and engage in illegal activities like theft.
Sniffing glue is a form of addiction and their effect is as good as that of drugs. They contains toluene which is a sweet-smelling and intoxicating hydrocarbon. It dissolves the membrane of the brain cells and causes hallucinations. It also allows the person to not feel hunger or cold.
To check such practices among children, mostly nomadic groups, public awareness, personal counselling as well as strong rehabilitation measures should be put in place to curb the wide-spread menace.
An official of District Child Protection Unit, Angul said such reports have come to their notice and sensitisation programme has been planned among such communities.
