Inhalant Abuse: A Volatile Research Agenda, 129

headaches. Many solvent abusers, more than other drug users, are poor, come
from broken homes, and do poorly in school (Korman et al. 1981; Oetting et
al. 1988).
Oetting et al. (1988) have usefully categorized those who use inhalants into
three groups: (1) inhalant-dependent adults, (2) polydrug users, and (3) young
inhalant users. The first group will have the most serious health problems
because they have used heavily for a long time; the last group will be those for
whom treatment is most desirable to keep them from progressing to the first
group and for whom there may be hope for successful intervention if caught in
the early phases. Although all inhalant abusers use other drugs or alcohol,
the first group predominately uses inhalants even though other drugs are
available. The second group infrequently uses inhalants primarily in instances
when they can not get their drug of choice; their problems will arise more
from the use of other drugs and not be related to those discussed in this volume.
The last group, young inhalant users, generally is in the experimentation
period with solvents—having started with tobacco, alcohol, and possibly
even marijuana as well as inhalants. Behavioral intervention is very important
to dissuade members of this group from maturing into the first group.
One aspect of the inhalant abuse problem is often brought up but not answered
to anyone’s satisfaction. That is, why are certain specific substances
inhaled? Some consider the odor to be important; others believe that the
feeling one gets is most important. It is also difficult to say with certainty
which substances are most preferred. Rankings of ever-used substances place
glue and gasoline at the top (analysis of the National Household Survey data,
1991). Gasoline still topped the list upon analysis of past-month-used, which
is followed by spray paint and other aerosols, nitrous oxide, correction fluid,
and with glue being last. Additionally a Texas school survey (Fredlund et al.
1989) ranked correction fluids at the top with glue, gasoline, and spray paint
being the next most frequent. A survey of delinquent children ranked paint
sprays as the most frequently used substance (Fredlund et al. 1990) with
nitrites also high on the list.
The now less-accessible fluorocarbons seem to be used very little (by general
disclosures from the field and as per the Texas survey), possibly because they
are available primarily only in the pressurized refrigerant replacement cans.
However, there are still numerous deaths attributed to the abuse of fluorocarbons
(Litovitz et al. 1990). The addictive nature of fluorocarbons is
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