Ringo Hood, Peter Hood's cousin, runs the Sobering Up Centre in Morwell. He also does the night prowl, often picking up children and bringing them back to the centre to sleep off their paint-induced stupor. Until now, drug and youth workers, police and the Aboriginal community have built a wall of silence around the problem. They feared that publicising it would encourage copycat behavior. Chroming has become the biggest drug problem among Koori children in the Latrobe Valley.
Police say it is the most common reason they make referrals to other agencies.
One of the frustrating things is that we can do very little about it because what the kids are doing is not illegal. Craig Winter was on duty at the Latrobe Regional Hospital two weeks ago when the two boys were bought in. As emergency department director, he is accustomed to such sights. They've got paint all over their hands and face and they're appearing very drunk and uncoordinated. The danger is they can have a seizure or slip into a coma.