Addiction services organisation Odyssey says huffing is not a widespread issue – but it could be a meme away from becoming a problem.

A 12-year-old Hamilton boy died suddenly last month after inhaling deodorant from a can.

Odyssey chief executive Fiona Trevelyan says information can spread quickly among young people through social media, so it’s a challenge to balance getting helpful information out – versus the risk of sparking the curiousity of yet more young people.

“Some of it is purely experimental. Some of its about trying to have fun and being a bit naughty. But some of it’s about actually trying to get away from some of the real negative, sad features of their lives – which are there because of the effects of poverty, of colonisation etc,” she says.

Ms Trevelyan says while there are relatively few cases of huffing, there has been an uptick this year in the abuse of nitrous oxide or laughing gas.