Plea to do more on chroming
A TOWNSVILLE educator traded a group of youths Mcdonald’s food for deodorant in the hope of stopping them from chroming.
Now Dr Farvardin Daliri is imploring community members to take responsibility for the issue of s u b s t a n c e abuse and do their part in dealing with chroming.
Dr Daliri r e c o v e r e d u n d e r a r m d e o d o r a n t from five young boys and girls in exchange for five large Big Mac burgers this month.
His office at Townsville Intercultural Centre is close to a property in Cranbrook where young people often gather to “chrome” – the dangerous and addictive practice of inhaling aerosols which led to the deaths of 13- year- old Brian Massey and a 17- year- old girl in Townsville this month.
Dr Daliri told the youths about what the harmful substances do to their brains. Chroming can cause brain damage and cardiac arrest.
“I only offered them food and compassion and I wanted to see if they needed any help,” he said. “I said to them ‘ instead of having poison, how about having food?’.”
Dr Daliri said Townsville residents needed to realise the chroming issue was a whole of community failure.
“It’s not just one family, it’s a community issue and everyone has a role to play,” he said.
“It’s not enough to stand back and criticise people or families. It doesn’t go away and it hasn’t gone away.”