Volatile substance abuse throughout the world

Drug misuse recognises no national boundaries, but patterns of use vary in different parts of the world.

For example, of the countries in the European Union, VSA in the UK has received most attention, and certainly levels of use and reported deaths associated with sniffing are comparatively high. But levels of experimental use are high in other countries as well, and in Sweden and Greece exceed reported experimentation with cannabis.

In other parts of Europe, the increased poverty for some people, combined with the collapse of some social institutions, and the increased openness of borders as has led to a general increase in drug misuse.

In North America, experimental ‘inhalant’ use (as it is called there) is high, and there is concern about chronic use by some young members of indigenous communities, such as Native Americans, Inuit and Hispanics.

VSA is widespread in South America, though it is mainly confined to poor areas.

Click for information about Australasia

In many countries, volatile substances are the drugs of choice for children living on the streets. More about ‘street children’

The European School Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD) has conducted Europe-wide drug surveys and in some questions have been put about the use of volatile substances. The 1995 report states that:

The table shows the figures for the nine EU countries covered in this survey where the question on VSA was asked. The figure for the UK is higher than in some other UK surveys, and is by far the highest in any EU country. With prevalence figures for boys of 15 per cent, Sweden has the next highest figures. There is no apparent North-South or East-West European pattern in these figures; the third-highest prevalence is found in Italy.

Comparability is limited because of some differences in methodology: the survey uses standardised instruments developed by the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe; it is co-ordinated from Stockholm. However, the report points out: ‘There are of course many methodological difficulties connected with cross-national studies. Despite the strict standardisation of methodology, differences in culture between countries are very difficult to overcome.’

The ESPAD (European School Project on Alcohol and other Drugs) survey covered 15 non-EU European countries. In the school surveys in Malta, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, Hungary, Slovak Republic, Ukraine, Cyprus, and Istanbul in Turkey questions were asked about volatile substances. The percentages reporting having experimented with volatile substances are given in the table.

* these are the figures given for Iceland in Figure 32 of the ESPAD report, although it is difficult to see how overall prevalence can be lower than the prevalence for both boys and girls.

Comparability is limited because of some differences in methodology

VSA may be more prevalence among Roma (‘Gypsy’) children, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. The probable reasons why Roma are more at risk include: availability of abusable products, poverty (which restricts access to alcohol and other drugs), the development of a ‘dependency culture’, and parents’ and other influential adults’ tolerance of inhaling.

In the USA, the National Household Survey on drug use found that, in 1990, seven to eight per cent of those aged 12-17 admitted to having used volatile substances. A national survey involving 15,750 high school students found that 16.6 per cent of the students admitted having ever used them.

A 1993 Report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that 43 states in the USA had passed statutes specifically directed at inhalants: 41 states had criminal statutes regarding use of inhalants, 31 states had business regulations on product formulation or access, 10 states had prevention or treatment related statutes. However a report by Sharpe states:

The report continues:

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A couple of examples: in Paraguay, for instance, volatile substances are regarded as ‘the poor peoples’ drug’ because they are only used by young people from poor areas. It is estimated that they are used by most ‘street children’ [extra link to street children]. It is said the substances most commonly used by sniffers in Brazil were ‘lança-perfume’ (a mixture of chloroform and diethyl ether), acetone, petrol, finger-nail polish, and glue.

Most State Governments in Australia have some controlling legislation. In Queensland the poisons regulations were amended in 1983, and require glues containing volatile solvents to be placed out of reach. In New South Wales, warning labels on specified products are required. In the State of South Australia, the Controlled Substances Act of 1983 makes the supply volatile substances for purposes of inhalation a crime punishable by a fine or two years imprisonment.

The ‘Task Force on Drug Abuse’, which reported to the Government of Western Australia in September 1995, recommended that ‘chronic users’ should be a priority target of community drug service teams. State and local initiatives, which included industry codes of practice, should aim to restrict the supply of some substances to at-risk youth. They further recommended that ‘the central drug co-ordinating office should pursue the development and adoption of a formal code of conduct by appropriate retailers, and facilitate local action where appropriate with the aim of limiting the supply of volatile substances to minors.’(Protecting the Community: Task Force On Drug Abuse Government of Western Australia 1995)

In one study in New Zealand two per cent of 14 to 18-year-olds studied had tried volatile substances. There are reports of higher levels of use, and some chronic problems among some Native Australians.

In an overview of the issue in Asia, data were obtained from nine countries, all of which indicated some level of problem with volatile substance abuse (Kin F and Navaratnam V ‘An Overview of Inhalant Abuse in Selected Countries of Asia and the Pacific Region’ in Kozel N and others 1995 Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse: an international perspective Washington: NIDA Research Monograph 148).

There have been reports of VS use in Japan since 1960. There, the sale or supply of specified substances to juveniles is an offence, and in 1991 3,479 people were arrested for knowingly selling or giving thinners or other solvents to juveniles.

In the Philippines Presidential Decree 1619, promulgated in 1979, imposes criminal sanctions on those who use, possess, or engage in the unauthorised sale of volatile substances to minors. In the Republic of Korea selling certain chemical substances (including toluene, ethyl acetate and methyl alcohol) for intoxication purposes can be charged under the Harmful Chemical Control law. Thailand has an Act on the Prevention of Inhalant Abuse (VE253 (1990)). Under this legislation, the sale of inhalant substances to children under 17 years old is prohibited.

Not much prevalence data are available. A survey of secondary school children in four southern Nigerian cities found that lifetime prevalence varied from 2.7 per cent to 35.7 per cent. Products used included petrol, glue and sprays (Obot I 1995 ‘Epidemiology of inhalant abuse in Nigeria’ in: Kozel N Sloboda Z and De La Rosa M (eds) 1995 Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse: an international perspective (Washington: NIDA Research Monograph series No. 148))

A study in Zimbabwe of 2783 students in five schools found levels of VSA that were ‘surprisingly high’ (Eide A and Acuda S 1995 Drug use among secondary school students in Zimbabwe Addiction 90 1517-1527): after alcohol and tobacco, volatile substances were the most likely drug to have been tried, with 13.9 per cent of boys and 8.4 per cent of girls having tried them.

One study of street children in Romania found rates of experimentation with volatile substances of 34 per cent (with a male:female ratio of 7:1); another study reported a rate of 71 per cent.