Coles locks up deodorant cans in an attempt to reduce chroming in Brisbane CBD

Coles stores have locked up their deodorant cans across the city in an attempt to reduce chroming in young Queenslanders.

Aerosol cans have been locked in glass cabinets in supermarkets across Brisbane in an attempt to reduce chroming in young Queenslanders.

A photo shared to social media site Reddit showed a locked cabinet in Coles Express Myer City Centre in the CBD full of deodorant aerosol cans.

Deodorant cans locked up in Brisbane CBD. Picture: Reddit.

A number of other Coles stores have followed suit in asking customers to approach the service desk for assistance in getting access to the cans.

It comes as the chroming issue, which involves sniffing poisonous substances, including deodorant aerosols, continues to plague young Queenslanders.

A statement from Coles said the move was made in co-operation with police and local welfare groups to “minimise harm” caused by misusing aerosol products.

“A number of our stores now have lockable aerosol cabinets installed, and customers seeking to purchase these products can simply ask a team member at the service desk for assistance,” the statement said.

“We’ve had positive feedback from our customers since we introduced the lockable aerosol cabinets. It takes the whole community to support this issue.”

However, Director of Youth Affairs Network of Queensland, Siyavash Doostkhah said the reaction was a “bandaid” fix to a wider issue.

“Trying to limit access to these things, might be seen as a positive effort, and I guess you can say it can have some effect, but the issue we have to get to the bottom of is why kids want to disconnect from reality,” he said.

Mr Doostkhah said chroming has long been a “cyclical” issue with bandaid solutions constantly failing to address the root of the situation.

“The situations aren‘t simple, the cycle has gone on for generations,” he said.

“It’s really about investing in trying to create an alternative pathway for these young people to give them something more meaningful for them to engage in.”

The move to lock up aerosol cans has been welcomed by Sarah Nevins, whose teenage daughter Chloe almost died from chroming last year.

“I like the idea that Coles is trying to prevent it. Kids are going to be kids, but if we could slow the access down to make it more difficult, that would be ideal,” she said.

Chloe went into cardiac arrest when she was 16 due to chroming and has now been left with a permanent disability.

Ms Nevins said Chloe had no idea how dangerous chroming could be, and as a mother, she was completely oblivious to the fact that her daughter had developed a drug addiction to inhaling the poisonous chemicals.

“It’s a silent subject. I didn’t know. That’s why I started talking about it because it’s products in your home. Kids will experiment and no one’s perfect, but it can just drop them quicker than anything and it can take their life away,” she said.

Along with reducing access, Ms Nevins says more needs to be done on the education front both for students and parents.

“I want the conversation to happen in schools, parents need to be made aware. The education needs to be out there and it needs to be up there with learning about alcohol and drug addiction.”