Epidemicofglue sniffingbyteens

August 1983

The problem of glue sniffing is reaching epidemic proportions in Wexford town, where groups of young people gather at night in disused buildings and fields to inhale the gaseous fumes and get ‘ high’.

Looking half-crazed with eye red-rimmed and bulging, they sniff the glue from plastic bags for the dizzy effect it brings. Polish and paint-thinning liquids are also being used, but glue - which is easily available from hardware stores and supermarkets - is the most common material.

Some of the favourite haunts where young people from about 12 to 18 years of age hide away to engage in the ugly habit are Harvey’s Field beside the County Clinic, a derelict malt store at the north end of town, the area behind the CBS school, Ferrybank, and even Crosstown Cemetery.

As the problem becomes widespread in the town, one young teenager said: ‘Everyone is doing it, fellas and girls, and there’s no problem getting glue in the shops.’

It is known that Wexford Gardai have approached shopkeepers in the town, asking them to be careful about selling tins of glue to teenagers, but the problem for traders is a difficult one. A seventeen-year-old who goes into a shop may genuinely want glue for a normal use.

Also, young glue sniffers are committing no offence in law, so the only protection that can be offered is for the shopkeepers to exercise greater vigilance when it comes to sniffing glue.