Glue-sniffers seen in Parliament grounds

Press, 3 November 1984, Page 8

Glue-sniffers seen in Parliament grounds

PA Wellington Children sniffing glue in the grounds of Parliament Buildings have worried the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Mr McLay. Mr McLay and his wife Marcy came across two boys sniffing glue as they left Parliament Buildings about 8 p.m. on Thursday. Mr McLay told NZPA yesterday that he was disturbed by the sight, and frustrated by the fact that the law contained no provision for dealing with the situation.

He said he probably felt the same as thousands of other New Zealanders who regularly saw children openly sniffing glue in pub-

lie places. “My real regret, and i guess the real irony of the situation, was that here it was happening within 50 yards of the Chamber of Parliament that only a few weeks ago rejected a private member’s bill which sought to do something about that very situation and to give the police power to deal with it. “The fact is that there the children were, doing something that everyone knows is potentially enormously dangerous. I think the ordinary citizen would expect that at the very least the police would have some power to intervene,” said Mr McLay. The bill Mr McLay re-

ferred to was brought into the House by the National member for Hauraki, Mr Graeme Lee, but failed to be introduced after it was condemned by the Government as offering no constructive help to solving the problem. The bill provided for people encouraging others to sniff glue or solvents to be fined $lOOO or imprisoned for up to six months. Under the bill, anyone inhaling a solvent would have been liable to a fine up to $5OO. Mr McLay said that he reported Thursday evening’s incident to the police, who indicated they would engage in social counselling with the children’s parents, if they were able to find them.