Policy and Advocacy: Inhalants

Good for your business, good for your community.

Volatile substances, such as aerosols and solvents (spray paints, glues, gases), are readily avaliable at hardware stores, apint emrchants, supermarkets, dairies and service stations. They have many legitimate uses, but they can also be a means of intoxication. This doesn't leave retailers in an easy situation.

The New Zealand Drug Foundation recognises that the use of common household substances for intoxication is a difficult drug taking behaviour to legislate and regulate for.

The New Zealand Drug Foundation does not support the law change proposed in the petition. The Foundation believes that such a law would be difficult to enforce, that prosecution would have little impact on behaviour, and that community-based approaches and high quality treatment facilities would be more effective in combating this problem, which is not currently a large-scale one in New Zealand.