YOUTUBE WEB SITE AGREES TO FISHER'S REQUEST FOR REMOVAL OF HUFFING VIDEOS
Lawmaker Cited Postings of Inhalant Use at Popular Web Site
As Invitation to Children to Get High on Chemical Vapors

(BRIDGETON) -- Acting on a recommendation brought to their attention by Assemblyman Douglas Fisher, the operators of the wildly popular Web site YouTube have agreed to remove video depicting inhalant abuse by young people.The voluntary action by YouTube came in the wake of a December 18 letter Fisher (D-Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester) sent the company calling their attention to offending video footage.

"Without any age restrictions to prevent minors from accessing videos on YouTube -- children were able to access instructional video guides on how almost any household product can be misused to produce a dangerous high," said Fisher. "YouTube's quick response to take down the videos that glamorized huffing was tremendous public service. I commend the company for its sense of corporate responsibility and its timely response."

In addition to pulling down the offending videos, YouTube told the Assemblyman that it will add "drug abuse" as one of the examples in its Community Guidelines describing what sort of videos are unacceptable for being uploaded at the site.

"We hope that this will further deter the uploading of videos containing inhalants and other dangerous drugs and encourages users to report it when encountered," Micah Schaffer, senior special for YouTube's consumer operations, wrote in a response letter to Fisher.

Fisher has been leading efforts in the Legislature to combat the growing menace of children "huffing" chemicals to get high.

Fisher was the lead sponsor of legislation (A-3083) recently signed into law by Governor Jon S. Corzine that cracks down on "huffing" by broadening the definition of toxic chemicals in the drug laws to include nitrous oxide and adhesives, paint remover and other substance capable of releasing high-inducing vapors.

According to the Alliance for Consumer Education, one in four students in America has intentionally abused a common household product to get high by the time they reach the eighth grade. The alliance also cited that inhalants are usually the first drug tried by children and among the most abused substances including alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana.

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