Dad's mission to nip aerosol abuse in the bud

A concerned parent is spearheading a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of aerosol abuse after catching his daughter trying it.

Matt, from Leiston in Suffolk, is making it his mission to crack down on the selling of aerosols to children - even though it is not illegal to do so.

He has contacted shops in the town and in neighbouring Saxmundham and some have now introduced restrictions on selling to under-16s.

There are more than 50 deaths a year involving glues, gases, solvents and aerosols according to UK drugs advisory service Frank.

The Frank website states that "inhaling... can cause confusion, slurred speech, mood swings, aggressive behaviour, hallucinations, vomiting, blackouts and breathing difficulties" as users try to get a high.

"They can also cause your heart to go out of rhythm, which if severe, can lead to a heart attack," it said.

Matt said he and his wife started noticing aerosols were going missing in the home several weeks ago, and questioned his daughter and her friend about it.

"We clamped down, got rid of all the deodorants and informed the other parents," he said.

"We thought we'd got on top of it after sitting down and explaining about the seriousness of it.

"Unfortunately this week I got a phone call saying there was a group of children out and they were doing it again."

He went out and spoke to his daughter and the other children.

"I found out where they'd bought it from and how they were doing it - so yes, it's become a serious issue," he said.

Since then, the concerned father has been talking to local shopkeepers and said "the majority of them are all on board".

"The issue is it's not actually illegal for children to buy these items, so they have to do it off their own bat," he said.

"They've put into position an age restriction on it, and the majority have gone for 16 but personally I don't think that's high enough for the nature and seriousness of what can actually happen."

Matt thinks social media "influencers" are very much behind the trend.

"They [youngsters] think it's really cool to do it because somebody's done it online."

He said Suffolk County Council's trading standards department said there was little it could do but that it might have to take action if enough parents contacted them, so he was encouraging that.

He said his daughter was now on "full lockdown" for the rest of the summer holiday.

"As parents and as a community we're keeping an eye on each other's children," he said.

Toby Lindsay-White, from community hub group Project40Seven, based in Leiston, is also supporting the campaign.

He said "challenges" shared on some platforms had been viewed millions of times, but added: "Fortunately the community is coming together to take a stand against it.

"Matt's been leading that stand due to his personal experience."

He encouraged anyone concerned to get in touch with the charity and said it was producing posters to support shopkeepers who wanted to bring in age restrictions on selling certain products.

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