Petition seeks check on substance abuse

A petition filed before the Delhi High Court has asked the government and schools to take steps to check inhalant abuse among students.

A petition filed before the Delhi High Court has asked the government and schools to take steps to check inhalant abuse among students.

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The petitioner Sanjiv Sabharwal wanted them to make children as well as their parents aware of its harmful affects and to prevent easy access to intoxicants.

“A strict vigil may be kept on children on the use of substances such as eraser fluid, naphthalene balls, petrol, diesel, pain relieving balms, etc who are using the same as inhalant abuse/addiction,” the petition said.

Seeking response from the government, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna has directed the petitioner to submit his suggestions to the Directorate of Education.

“All these products need to be labelled with a warning of being dangerous products,” opined the advocate. Sabharwal also said that counselling centres in schools should address this issue on a regular basis.

The PIL was based on a news report on students of a top school in Greater Noida being caught sniffing eraser fluid in class on CCTV cameras. It had said the situation was worse in Delhi, where children as young as 10 years were getting addicted to items easily available in a stationery or provision shop.