Banning butane not answer to huffing - coroner

The chief coroner says banning butane products is not the answer to the problem of 'huffing'.

A new report has found 63 people have died due to butane inhalation over the past 12 years.

Almost half of the those were Maori and over 75 percent were male.

Chief coroner Neil MacLean says while there are concerns about the availability of of inhalants, banning them would be near impossible.

"One of the real problems about this particular area of abuse and related harm and death is that most of the common ingredients are every-day household products, and simply banning them or making them illegal is simply unrealistic," he says.

Mr MacLean has suggested a national education campaign and increased publicity to help curb huffing problems.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says she's to take advice on the recommendations, but is questioning why her department has been named as a lead agency by the Coroner to help address the problem.

"It's not where I would have thought it would sit. I mean we can't tell retailers what to do and it seems to me there's quite a few initiatives around there, but I would like to take advice before I make that call."