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HERE is the latest twist to inhalant abuse.
The ethyl chloride spray used by sportsmen to relieve muscle pain is being sniffed by teenagers in search of a kick from chemicals.
When inhaled, it gives only a mild sensation, one abuser told The New Paper.
But the scary part is that the chemical, when inhaled deeply, can make the abuser either laugh uncontrollably or, at the other extreme, cry for no reason.
In one case, a Singapore teen turned hysterical after sniffing the spray.
In high doses, it can even be deadly, warned a doctor.
Even so, some teens are getting hold of the spray, which is available off the store shelves.
The trend has led certain pharmacies, like the Guradian Pharmacy at Holland Village, to remove the spray cans off the shelves and place them inside a cabinet out of reach for customers.
A store executive said that more and more students are buying these cans and that the store wanted to be 'more careful'.
And another major pharmacy, Unity, told The New Paper that it may stop selling the spray altogether.
The spray costs $11 for a 100ml can.
Abuser confesses
The New Paper spoke to abusers who claimed that they usually inhale the spray from a plastic bag.
Another known method of abuse is to spray the vapours onto a towel or a piece of cloth and to inhale deeply from the fabric.
Siti (not her real name), 20, was a second-year student at a polytechnic, when she was asked to buy the spray before going to an orientation camp in school.
Back then, she did not even know what it was for. She later saw a group of friends spray the chemical on a 'damp towel and inhale deeply from it'.
She tried it too. Said Siti: 'We all felt dizzy and laughed like mad.
'Suddenly, someone laughed so hard she became hysterical. We didn't know how to calm her down.
'That was when we realised how dangerous the spray was.'
Peer pressure
Just a little peer pressure is all it takes for some to start abusing the spray, said Michael (not his real name).
The 19-year-old student of an elite IP (integrated programme) school was a regular user of the spray.
The white canister with the blue cover had simply been an analgesic spray to relieve his muscle cramps.
But in May this year, he started inhaling the spray.
'I had bought a new can when I ran out of the spray in early May. I was on the way to meet a group of friends.
'One of them saw that I had the can with me and asked whether I knew about the experience of inhaling it.'
Michael replied that he was not aware of it.
He said: 'We then went to a secluded area to try it out.'
Michael said that his friend released a single spray of the 'EC' gas into a small-sized plastic bag.
Michael then inhaled it through the mouth.
He said: 'It felt and smelt like air-conditioning. My friends then started laughing uncontrollably for about a minute or so. I was not that 'high' though.'
The boarding school found out about the spray abuse during a search of his room. Suspicions were aroused when an empty can of spray was found in his possession.
This led to the discovery of at least 20 other male and female students who were also involved in spray abuse. Some were issued demerit points.
The New Paper tried to contact the school but it did not reply.
Dr Jason Chia, a consultant sports physician from the Singapore Sports Medicine Centre, an alliance between the Singapore Medical Group and Changi General Hospital's Sports Medicine Centre, confirmed that ethyl chloride is commonly used as a topical anesthetic to bring temporary pain relief. It is sometimes sprayed on the skin before injections.
The 'air-conditioning' smell described by Michael is 'due to the volatility of the liquid spray which quickly evaporates when sprayed onto the skin, carrying the heat away,' he said.
'This leads to its anaesthetic effect.'
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency website, those who inhale ethyl chloride vapours at less than 1 per cent concentration in the air usually experience no symptoms.
The vapours inhaled by Michael could have induced symptoms similar to those of alcohol intoxication when at higher concentrations. Dr Chia added: 'It depresses the central nervous system in high doses.
'Side effects include confusion, hallucinosis (distortion of reality), ataxia (loss of muscle control), pronounced impairment of short-term memory, or death.
'Inhalation abuse of ethyl chloride however, is not as common as glue sniffing.'
The spray is approved by the Health Sciences Authority, but only for external use as a numbing agent.
Keep a lookout
A Guardian spokesman said the drugstore chain is aware of the situation among young people and that is why 'staff keep a lookout for customers buying unusually large quantities of ethyl chloride'.
Unity NTUC Healthcare said the sale of ethyl chloride sprays is not so high as to raise suspicion of possible abuse.
Purchases are mostly made by adults and senior citizens.
One of the young people interviewed by The New Paper said he purchased his supply of spray from a Unity outlet in his neighbourhood.
A Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) spokesman noted that 'ethyl chloride spray is available over the counter and is not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act or the Intoxicating Substances Act'.
CNB also said that they are 'vigilant against the emergence of other products as items of inhalant abuse and is monitoring the situation closely.'
The spokesman added that there have been no reported cases lately, and that the public or schools should not hesitate to report any suspected cases of inhalant abuse to CNB.
Nurul Asyikin Mohd Nasir, newsroom intern
This article was first published in The New Paper.
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