Downtown Windsor business owners are sounding the alarm after a string of Freon thefts in the city's core.
Recently, several air conditioning units have been found with their lines cut and the Freon gas, which cools the unit, removed.
Downtown Windsor business owner Rhys Trenhaile speaks about freon gas thefts in the city's core (Photo courtesy of CTV Windsor)
Business owner Rhys Trenhaile says he and many of his counterparts believe thieves are huffing the gas for a cheap high.
"You put your head in the bag and you breathe in the Freon fumes. The Freon fumes get in the blood stream and suck the oxygen out of it and that's where you get the high," says Trenhaile.
He says with social services for the homeless and addicts located in the core, these things are bound to happen.
"You've got a lose, lose, lose situation where you have your social services for the homeless and for the addicts in the downtown core where your economic heart is," says Trenhaile. "So you have them mixing with the professionals and mixing with the university students and the merchants."
Addiction specialist Dr. Tony Hammer tells CTV Windsor that huffing is not addictive, but habit forming.
"This is just a variation on solvent abuse. It's no better or worse than the other solvents which are readily available in the hardware store or the gas station," says Hammer. "One message is that if your son is involved in this, or your daughter, they're keeping the wrong company."
The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association says it is aware of the problem and will install more alley lights to deter thefts.
Some of those lights have already been installed with more projects expected to be announced in the coming weeks.