That money, which is mainly for treatment and cultural renewal programs, is in addition to the $20 million that six federal departments spend annually on Davis Inlet and Sheshatshiu, the only Innu villages in Labrador.

More money will be needed for a new regional detox centre in Labrador. And the provincial government has already set aside $1.1 million to purchase a lodge in central Labrador, which will be used as a retreat.

The new $26-million budget was drafted early in 2001 after Innu leaders warned of a disaster in the making amid reports that dozens of children had turned to inhaling gasoline fumes to get high.

In Sheshatshiu, home to 1,200 Innu in central Labrador, health authorities obtained a court order in November 2000 and rounded up 21 bleary-eyed children and teenagers.

They were sent to a makeshift detox facility in nearby Goose Bay. But most were released into foster care three weeks later. Various treatment programs have been set up since then.

Another detox centre was set up in St. John's, where 35 children and teenagers from Davis Inlet stayed for up to three months. The gas-sniffing problem in Davis Inlet, which is on the north coast of Labrador, is considered much more serious than in Sheshatshiu.

Indeed, the documents obtained from Health Canada confirm what many observers had long suspected: For many children in Davis Inlet, gas sniffing is simply a form of self-medication - a way to numb the pain caused by living in a badly damaged community.

At one point last year, health officials at the detox centre in St. John's drafted a list of "common issues" faced by 34 of Davis Inlet's gas sniffers. It reads like a ghastly catalogue of social dysfunction:

- Exposure to chronic alcoholism.
- Domestic violence within the community, in the home and the extended family.
- Sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
- Significant trauma caused by exposure to suicides.
- Neglect.

And that's just a partial list.

"They will need continued, long-term support and structure to transform the way they see their lives and to give them an alternative to coping with life through substance abuse," said the report, prepared by a psychologist and an addictions counsellor.

The grim assessment also found the young Innu - aged 8 to 17 - lacked support from their parents and had difficulty making friends, controlling their temper and refraining from inappropriate sexual behaviour.

Health officials had been warned to expect allegations of sexual abuse, but none were reported, said Brian Dorey, Health Canada's director of Labrador operations.

Meanwhile, residents of Davis Inlet say older gas sniffers were largely to blame for a sudden resurgence of solvent abuse during the Christmas holidays.

"In the process of dealing with addictions, it's to be expected," Dorey said. "People are starting to work towards healthier choices. . . . Sniffing is down, quite substantially."

Still, the documents reveal 33 solvent abusers were left behind in Davis Inlet last year because they were young adults who couldn't be placed in a detox centre without their consent.

Dorey said 25 of them eventually agreed to seek help at a treatment centre in Western Canada.

"That was the void - the group that made their own decisions and chose not to participate in the healing process."

While it's widely known many gas sniffers suffer from chronic medical problems, including fetal alcohol syndrome, most information related to physical ailments was excised from the documents to ensure privacy rules weren't breached.

But the documents did say the prognosis for recovery, based on psychological reports from 23 children, was poor. Only six youths rated as good candidates for treatment.

© Copyright 2002 The Canadian Press

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