"I realised I was getting more and more used to the smell of thinner and needed to sniff it when I was not working," said 17-year-old Ton, who is now in a rehabilitation programme.

His secret was discovered months ago when he absent-mindedly slammed a forklift truck into a huge tank of paint. His employer arranged for him to be checked out by a doctor.

The doctor diagnosed Ton's mental state as abnormal as a consequence of inhaling paint thinner.

The truth shocked everyone. Ton had always seemed well behaved, but he then confessed he had stolen cans of thinner from the factory to sniff with other addicts on weekends for more than a year.

This case is a perfect example that contradicts the stereotype of inhalant addicts being kids from broken families, said Wanchai Roujanavong, director-general of the Department of Probation.

"The easy access to inhalants is largely to blame for the alarming increase in abuse," he said.

Drug users apparently switched from methamphetamine to inhalants such as glue and paint thinner as a reaction to the government's war on drugs, Wanchai said.

In 2003, when the government carried out tough and serial crackdowns, particularly on methamphetamines nationwide, the prevalence of inhalant abuse rose by 10 per cent from the previous year, said Wanchai.

Last year, inhalant abuse accounted for a quarter of all drug abuse cases, he added.

The Inhalant Abuse Prevention Royal Enactment has existed since 1990. Under the law, those who sell inhalants to people under 17 years of age can face a maximum two-year jail term or a Bt20,000 fine.

The penalty is now to be increased to a maximum three-year jail term or Bt30,000 fine for illegal sales of inhalants to apparent drug addicts, and for those buying inhalants for people under 17 for the purpose of drug abuse.

"Regretfully, the law seems unknown to most of those handling inhalants, like store owners who sell construction materials," said Wanchai.

As a result, government organisations have decided to launch a campaign against inhalant abuse targeted particularly at traders and retailers of inhalants together with sting operations using convicted juvenile delinquents.

During the first phase of the anti-inhalant abuse campaign, those caught on a sting operation will be given a warning, said Wanchai, but when the public is sufficiently aware of the programme, wrongdoers will be punished according to the law. In a positive approach, Tesco Lotus is programming the barcode system at its chains to automatically alert clerks when selling products containing inhalants. This will help clerks screen buyers.

As for working conditions, as in Ton's case, the Public Health Ministry and the Industrial Works Department are working together to control standards in factories where inhalants are used, said Wanchai.

"Inhalant abuse is a socially communicable disease. A person who lures someone to this addiction is usually an addict himself, so the priority is to bring those addicts in for treatment," said psychiatrist Atapol Sughondhabirom, from Chula-longkorn University.

The compulsory treatment and rehabilitation for inhalant addicts is expected to become law soon, as the Justice Ministry is amending its regulations, said Maj-General Amaresrit Watanawibul, commander of Narcotics Suppression Division.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation