Whitener erasing young lives

Social activists want regulation of sale of toxic substance

Hyderabad: It has been found that whitener-inhaling addiction among the adolescent boys is on the rise. The new-found addiction is mostly among youngsters in the age group of 13 and 17 years.

According to social activists, inhaling of whitener was resulting in about 2000 deaths annually. Accessibility of the whitener to teens was going unchecked even though the AP High Court in 2007 had given a judgement that it should not be sold over the counter to anyone who was below 18 years of age, according to Vasantha Lakshmi Charitable Trust and Research Centre.

Nearly 70 per cent of street children in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Nellore and many other cities in both the Telugu-speaking states were victims of substance abuse, said Chairman of the trust Vasantha Lakshmi at a press conference. “There is no proper de-addiction programme or facility available to them,” she said.

Explaining the after effects of sniffing whitener, Lakshmi said, the whitener, which is used to erase print on paper, can even erase memory of youngsters with the same power.

The hydrocarbons in the deadly solvents can diffuse easily with the blood and can affect the central nervous system of a person.

Uncharacteristic behaviours such as mood swings and insomnia are some of the symptoms of solvent addiction and it may result in kidney, liver and lung damage, she added.

Apart from street children even schoolchildren were falling victims to this hazardous drug, says the social activist. Luring with the white poison, some gangs are forcing children to indulge in chain snatching, robbery, sexual abuse and terrorist activity, she added.

The whitener abuse problem has been compounded by its easy procurement, negligible cost and one cannot even detect that the child had inhaled it as it does not emit any odour. It also gives instant kick to the child.

Vasantha Lakshmi said that since there is no mechanism in place to implement the court judgement and with the government not focussing its attention towards this menace, the whitener continues to be sold across the counter in all book shops.

She said government should regulate the sale of whitener and included it under scheduled drug category. The best option she felt would be to ban the sale of whitener.