In December 2019, 16-year-old Bradley Hope died after inhaling an aerosol during a sleepover with friends in Tweed Heads, NSW. Bradley’s mother, Corinne Mair, was determined that her son’s accidental death would not be in vain. She stated that there must be solutions to prevent such deaths from happening again.
In response to Bradley’s death, the NSW State Coroner, Teresa O’Sullivan, handed down recommendations to address the trend of inhalant use, known as ‘volatile substance misuse’.
The recommendations included NSW Health holding a roundtable with various stakeholders, such as the police, education department, manufacturers, retailers, and youth and community services.
The roundtable would consider a public health campaign, education programs for children and parents, potential legislation relating to the sale of inhalants, and greater training for police and paramedics.
The Aerosol Association of Australia was also recommended to look at the effectiveness of warning labels on containers, while manufacturers should continue researching new, safer products.
During the inquest, experts stated that there was no effective data about the prevalence of inhalant use. Inhaling aerosols can have a ‘paint stripping’ effect on the brain and disturb heart rhythms, with possible chronic effects like nerve and organ damage and dementia.
Ms O’Sullivan expressed her sympathies to Bradley’s family, saying their grace and dignity was remarkable.
Bradley’s mother, Corinne Mair, believed her son did not know the risks of inhaling aerosols. Chroming or Volatile Substance Misuse (VSM) has killed about a dozen young Australians since 2009, according to ABC.
Sarah MacLean from La Trobe University told the inquest that chroming had become a trend but was far from glamorous. She noted that there was a lot of shame involved, and there was certainly a huge amount of stigma around VSM as individuals get older.
»Teresa O’Sullivan hands down recommendations to address trend of inhalant use«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯