§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Dowd.]
8.20 pm§ Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford, South)I am pleased to have this opportunity to raise the subject of solvent abuse, particularly in relation to lighter fuel and butane gas, but I am sad to have to do so because of the tragic consequences of that abuse. The matter has been discussed many times in the House through oral questions, written questions and early-day motions.
Death is always traumatic, but the needless and tragic death of a young person who seemed to have the prospect of a bright future leaves us with a sense of disbelief and despair. Chantelle Bleau died on 1 December 1997 at the age of 16 after sniffing gas lighter fuel. Chantelle was studying for 11 GCSEs and was an active and bubbly teenager involved in drama and music. She had many friends, and was active in the community. Her loving family are devastated by the loss of their daughter and sister.
Mrs. Bleau said that they were a very close family, and that there were no symptoms or signs of what Chantelle was doing. She said:
I just don't know why she did it. I think some kids experiment with drugs and get away with it. But Chantelle hasn't, she has paid with her life.The sad irony is that Chantelle was successful in gaining a part in an anti-drugs play called "Deadly Deals", which toured local schools raising drugs awareness issues.Chantelle's parents and her community, in their grief, have vowed to do what they can to prevent a similar tragedy from happening to other families. They have set up a memorial fund designed to raise the awareness of teenagers and parents to the dangers of inhaling toxic solvents and gases. They hope to do that by establishing a resource centre to provide information about the dangers and effects of gas inhalation; by promoting publicity campaigns targeting vulnerable groups; by providing and training a team that will raise awareness in schools and youth clubs; and by establishing a support group for families that are affected by solvent abuse.
I pay tribute to all who have participated in the fund, particularly Yvonne Hutchinson, the fund co-ordinator, and members of the Abundant Life Centre church. I also commend our local newspaper, the Telegraph and Argus, which, through its reporter Nick Oldham, has done sterling work in raising the issues. I am pleased that the fund has received support from the entire community in our area.
If only Chantelle's death was an isolated incident, but sadly it is not. According to Re-Solv, a national organisation established in 1994 to prevent solvent abuse, volatile substance abuse kills more young people than any controlled drug. A Home Office report said that, between 1984 and 1996, more than three times as many young people under the age of 20 died from volatile substance abuse as from other illegal drugs. In Yorkshire alone, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of deaths—up to 200 per cent.—in the past two years.
A direct comparison of deaths reveals that, between 1989 and 1995, Ecstasy killed 60 young people, while 660 young people died as a consequence of VSA. That is 935 a ratio of 11: 1. They are horrific figures. There was some hope that the figures were declining, but the figures for 1995 brought an abrupt halt to that decline. VSA killed 68 young people in that year—a 17 per cent. increase on the previous year. In one in five of those deaths, there was no previous history of abuse—but the victims did not get a second chance.
Another terrible tragedy was the death of Christopher Smith, who was only seven years old. He was found in the cab of an abandoned pick-up truck at a travellers' camp. There have been many more tragic deaths. Kevin Gregory, aged 15, died in March 1996 as a result of sniffing lighter fuel. Doctors smelled lighter fuel when he was taken to hospital, and his brother found a canister under his bed. Mark Campbell, who died in June 1996 aged 17, was found in a flat surrounded by canisters. He had been lonely and bullied. Glen Brooks, aged 15, was found dying on a playing field with canisters around him. We could recollect many such tragic cases this evening. Doctors are calling the epidemic "sudden sniffing death".
North Yorkshire county council trading standards officers took a 14-year-old girl to 20 shops. In 19, she was able to buy adhesives and gas—only one shop refused her. Trading standards officers up and down the country are calling for regulations that work. They have suggested regulations similar to those governing the sale of tobacco as a possible solution to the problem.
I applaud and congratulate Re-Solv, which works with the all-party group on solvent abuse—it was established because of the scale of the problem. I am pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Delyn (Mr. Hanson) is in the Chamber. He was a director of Re-Solv before he came to the House, and I know that he wishes to contribute to the debate this evening.
Various solvents are the subject of abuse, including adhesives, aerosols, dry cleaning and de-greasing agents, fire extinguishers, paint, paint thinners, paint strippers and fuel gases. I shall concentrate on fuel gases, such as butane, which killed Chantelle. Butane is colourless and odourless. Manufacturers must find ways of increasing consumer awareness and education, and of notifying the public of the dangers of butane. Changing the nozzles on butane lighter refills might help, or perhaps an unpleasant-smelling substance could be added to the butane to discourage people from inhaling it.
We must ask the manufacturers to co-operate even further by issuing tougher warnings. If that co-operation is not forthcoming, the next step may be to ban lighter refuelling. There are many throwaway lighters on the market, so why do we need lighter refills that are so dangerous and so accessible to young people?
In raising this case tonight, it is my intention and that of my hon. Friends the Members for Bradford, North (Mr. Rooney), for Bradford, West (Mr. Singh), for Shipley (Mr. Leslie) and for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer), who have supported the fight, to add our weight to the campaign for greater awareness and education and tighter restrictions to prevent more young people from ending up like Chantelle. I am pleased to say that the fund is supported by the Leader of the House and by the drugs tsar, Keith Hellawell. I know that Ministers are considering introducing restrictions on the sale of solvents.
936 We must do something about this epidemic. We cannot allow cases such as Chantelle's to develop. We must ensure that there is greater education and awareness. The parents of Chantelle Bleau and the local community have tried to ensure that this tragedy does not happen to others. I hope that the Minister will explain how the Government will try to put the matter right. In light of the figures that have been cited, this problem must be addressed. Many young people are dying as a result of trying a substance that they do not believe to be harmful.
I am happy to have had the opportunity to raise the issue in this Adjournment debate. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Delyn wishes to contribute, and I look forward to hearing the Minister's response.
§ Mr. David Hanson (Delyn)I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) for raising this important issue. I look forward with interest to hearing what my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary says in reply.
I simply seek to support my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South because, for the six years that I have been a Member of the House, I have been secretary of the all-party group on solvent abuse, and, before entering the House, I worked in a professional capacity helping with the reduction of solvent abuse. I remain concerned about the level, impact and effect of solvent abuse, and the need for a strategy to deal with the issue in future.
As my hon. Friend said, on average three young people will die each week from the abuse of solvents and volatile substances. Those products are available in the home and in the garage. They are products which you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and I buy for perfectly legitimate purposes—for painting the house or varnishing the floor, for hair spray or nail polish, and for correction fluid. In particular, my hon. Friend highlighted butane gas for cigarette lighters. Each of those products has a legitimate use, but each and every one can be used, particularly by young people because of their availability, leading, in some cases, to instant death.
Legislation is on the statute book dealing with solvent and volatile substance abuse. The Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act 1985, promoted by the then hon. Member for Tynemouth, Neville Trotter, restricts and regulates the sale of potentially abusable products to people under the age of 18 if the shopkeeper or retailer feels that those products are being bought for the purpose of abuse.
Greater education, enforcement and understanding of that legislation is needed so that all retailers are aware of it and have the support of trading standards officers in its random enforcement, and so that local authorities can ensure that the Act is understood and well known.
The recent drugs strategy of my right hon. Friend the Leader of the House is also helpful. That strategy covers solvent and volatile substance abuse. It is important that the need for the strategy is made known and understood, so that parents, teachers, youth workers and others in positions of responsibility for the well-being of young people understand the nature of such products, their potential dangers, and the reasons why young people abuse them.
In particular, we need to tackle the issue in schools and deal with the big problem of peer group pressure for seven to 12-year-olds whose friends encourage them to try 937 something. We must establish strategies to give young people the resilience to understand the problem and the products available, and to be able to resist the pressures and say no.
I re-emphasise what my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South said about butane gas in particular. In reply to a parliamentary question of mine on 6 April, the Minister of State, Department of Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn), stated that, in the 10 years from 1985 to 1995, 465 people died as a result of butane gas lighter abuse alone. That does not take into account any other form of solvent abuse. Of those, 48 were under the age of 14, and 286 were under the age of 19.
I am aware that my hon. Friend is considering consulting on the practicality of introducing a limit of 16 years of age on the sale of gas lighter refills, as the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, North and Sefton, East (Mr. Howarth), said in a parliamentary written answer. I simply say that butane gas is the real killer in terms of solvent and volatile substance abuse. That is what is killing most young people at the moment, and killing them early and quickly. That consultation needs to take place soon. I hope that my hon. Friend will open it up, so that retailers, trading standards authorities and individuals such as parents can contribute and make the consultation valid.
The 465 deaths from abuse of butane gas lighters show that there is an argument to bring the sale of that product into line with the sale of cigarettes. Most people use butane gas lighters to light cigarettes. It is illegal to buy cigarettes under the age of 16, so I see no reason why it should not be the same for volatile substances.
My hon. Friends the Members for Leeds, East (Mr. Mudie) and for Cardiff, Central (Mr. Jones) have taken a great interest in the subject. I shall ensure that the campaign continues to reduce the number of deaths. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South for allowing me to contribute.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Mike O'Brien)I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) for seeking this important debate, and for his contribution and that of my hon. Friend the Member for Delyn (Mr. Hanson) to this important issue.
I am sorry to hear of the death of the constituent of my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South, Chantelle Bleau, from lighter fuel abuse. Her family and friends have my sympathy, and I ask my hon. Friend to convey that sympathy to them.
Volatile substance abuse, of which lighter fuel abuse is a part, is a phenomenon which has been with us for all too long. Although there were instances of abuse before, it was not until around 1970 that it began to grow to worrying levels. At that time, the police began to detect significant incidents of industrial chemical inhalation by young people, mainly in inner-city areas. Gradually, over a period of a few years, outbreaks of abuse emerged in other parts of the United Kingdom, without any apparent geographical pattern.
With no sign of the problem diminishing, and with mounting public concern, in 1985 Parliament passed the Intoxicating Substances (Supply) Act, to which my hon. 938 Friend the Member for Delyn referred. That Act did not make it an offence to possess abusable substances or to indulge in volatile substance abuse, but made it an offence for retailers to sell abusable substances to people under 18, knowing or believing that they were to be abused.
The Act therefore addressed and continues to address the position of the unscrupulous retailer. Many conscientious retailers have subsequently trained their staff and adopted policies—for example, by not displaying solvent-containing glues—aimed at reducing the opportunities for young people to lay their hands on these substances. The British Aerosol Manufacturers Association has provided advice to retailers. Such moves are welcome.
The Act did not make it an offence to possess or abuse the substances, because there was a fear of driving the abuse underground, making it more difficult to help if it were needed because substance abuse had produced an injury, possibly leading to death. Because of the wide range of substances which can be abused, and because of their widespread availability in the home and elsewhere, the Act was never going to be a cure-all. However, it played, and continues to play, a part in reducing access to the whole range of abusable products.
If my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South has not already read it, I commend to him the report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs which was published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1995. The report, and the then Government's response to it, made it clear that wide-ranging action by a number of agencies, including the Government, was necessary.
For example, prevention and education initiatives were necessary to help divert young people away from abuse; training was necessary for professionals working with young people; and measures were needed to reduce accessibility to abusable substances. Those suggestions have all been followed through. The report drew special attention to the risks of gas lighter refills, to which I shall return later.
The Health Education Authority has run several publicity campaigns on behalf of the Government, specifically dealing with VSA and its potentially lethal effects. Information about the dangers of VSA is also included in all the HEA's general resources about drug misuse.
My hon. Friend may be aware that concern is sometimes expressed about referring to "gases, glues and aerosols" in drugs prevention literature. The suggestion is that that may signpost young people towards thinking of them as substances of abuse. Some aspects of solvent abuse are quite distinct from other forms of drug abuse. As my hon. Friend the Member for Delyn said, the majority of substances abused are legitimate household products, which, if used as intended, pose no discernible risk. Nevertheless, volatile substances are abused to achieve a state of intoxication in much the same way as illegal drugs—sometimes with fatal consequences.
In developing our new anti-drugs strategy, which was published last week, we took account of VSA, and acknowledged that it will often be appropriate for drugs education and prevention activities to include information about volatile substances and other substances of abuse.
Surveys suggest that a small number of eight to 10-year-olds experiment, while 5 to 10 per cent. of teenagers may have engaged in volatile substance abuse 939 at some time. Those are frightening statistics. Given the early age at which such substances are sometimes first used, and the concern that sudden death sometimes occurs at first use, all schools should consider the place of education about the dangers of volatile substance abuse within their drug and health education programmes. As with other education about drugs, pupils need information and the skills to make healthy decisions and resist experimentation.
Drug education, including that about solvents and other legal substances such as alcohol and tobacco, is already a statutory requirement, as part of the national curriculum science order, at each of the four key stages. The guidance in the Department for Education and Employment's "Drug Prevention and Schools" circular, which was sent to all schools in 1995, was intended to encourage schools to approach the whole subject in a better and more targeted way. The DFEE plans to issue further guidance on drug education this year to support and underpin the Government's new anti-drugs strategy.
To ensure that national support is available for all professionals who need information about VSA, advice on training and guidance on best practice, the Department of Health funds the National Children's Bureau solvent misuse project. The project has responded to numerous requests for information, not only from professionals but from the media and those undertaking research into the issue.
To complement that information resource, the Department of Health also funds the solvent abuse resource group to lead the development of a network of local agencies that are active in finding solutions to the problems of VSA and in supporting the families of abusers. That is often neglected, but we must ensure that it is done. We understand that the resource group and the Chantelle Bleau memorial fund are now in contact with each other.
It is also important that purchasers should be aware what products can be abused, and the dangers of abusing them. To that end, last October, following consumer safety research carried out by the Department of Trade and Industry in consultation with the industry, new clear warning labels for abusable products have been developed. Manufacturers are voluntarily introducing the new warning label messages, which is to be welcomed. The message is clear and simple, and in line with other health advice on that subject: solvent abuse can kill instantly.
The ability of solvent abuse to kill instantly makes it a nasty problem. St. George's hospital medical school collects data on solvent-related deaths on the Government's behalf. Deaths peaked in 1990, when 151 people died. A steady decline to 58 deaths was recorded in 1994. However, in 1995, the last year for which figures 940 are available, the figure increased to 68. Although the overall downward trend is to be welcomed, it is no cause for complacency on the part of the Government or any other organisation with a role to play in responding to the problem. The high proportion of deaths that occur from abusing gas lighter refills—some 50 per cent.—is of particular concern.
The danger of gas lighter refills was identified in the report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. It recommended that their size be limited to a maximum of 25 ml, to reduce the available dose and therefore the possibility of immediate death or injury. The DTI pursued that recommendation with the industry. I understand that, although several companies responded positively by voluntarily introducing a 25 ml gas lighter refill, others remained unconvinced that the smaller can would prove safer than the normal-sized 250 or 300 ml refills. Progress towards an industry-wide agreement to reduce the refills to a maximum size of 25 ml has also been hampered by anti-competitive considerations and practical difficulties.
I cannot hide my great disappointment, or that of the Government, that it has not been possible to make 25 ml the accepted maximum for gas lighter refills. That held out the prospect of an across-the-board step forward on this issue, but we must now accept that it is not to be—at least in the short term. My hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, South proposed other methods, such as making the abusive substances smell unpleasant. Those possibilities need to be explored.
My hon. Friends the Members for Bradford, South and for Delyn suggested that another means of reducing deaths from lighter refills would be to prohibit their sale to young people. That suggestion has also been made by various trading standards authorities and by Re-Solv, the Society for the Prevention of Solvent and Volatile Substance Abuse. We are grateful to them, and believe that such a measure must be considered. We therefore intend very shortly— hope in the next week or two—to consult on a proposal that sales of gas lighter refills to persons under the age of 16 be made illegal. It is important to make it harder for those potentially deadly products to get into the hands of young people.
Volatile substance abuse is a distinctive and difficult phenomenon to address. I hope that, from what I have said, my hon. Friends will understand the great seriousness with which the Government regard it. Misuse of gas lighter refills is one element—the most dangerous—as my hon. Friends' constituents know to their cost. They have my sympathy. Through the consultation exercise on which we are about to embark, we intend to assess the value of introducing a measure to tackle the specific dangers of gas lighter refills. I hope that my hon. Friends will support us in our search for a long-term, practical and effective solution to this problem.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at thirteen minutes to Nine o'clock.