ON a rainy night in a New Territories public housing estate, a group of youngsters with tinted hair loiter at the back of a building. Ah-keung (not his real name), sitting on the steps with a beer bottle at his side, holds a paper tissue soaked with paint thinner over his nose.
The half-litre bottle he bought for $7, filled with the strong-smelling liquid, gives him 'moments of pleasure, a means to escape the everyday frustrations of life'.
Paint thinner, like alcohol, is a depressant which causes the mind to lose its stability.
Sniffing paint thinner, or 'hyteen' as the youngsters normally call it, is a popular, cheap and effective method for teenagers who want to get high.
It is also a growing trend, says the Narcotics Division.
Ah-keung's habit is shared by hundreds of other youths, many of whom have grown up in newer housing estates.
'They are typically 13 to 19 years old,' said Mr Wong, a social worker at the Hong Kong Children and Youth Services who declined further identification.