Epidemiology of Inhalant Abuse - Archives - National Institute on ...

Consequences <strong>of</strong> <strong>Inhalant</strong> Use: Perceived Risk
The perceived risk <strong>of</strong> inhalant use as very harmful among those who have
never used inhalants, former users, and current users is 82.9 percent, 73.3
percent, and 64.7 percent, respectively, as shown on figure 3.
Furthermore, <strong>of</strong> the subjects interviewed, 58.4 percent <strong>of</strong> those who were
nonusers reported that inhalant use may cause serious problems with
police or justice, whereas 45.3 <strong>of</strong> former users, and 39.0 percent <strong>of</strong>
current users had the same perception (figure 4). These results suggest
that those who are current inhalant users are less concerned about the
consequences <strong>of</strong> this use than former or nonusers. The findings also
show that there is a high level <strong>of</strong> consciousness among Colombians
regarding the damaging effects <strong>of</strong> inhalant use.
Despite this consciousness, there continues to be a significant number <strong>of</strong>
people who pay little attention to the harmful consequences <strong>of</strong> inhalant
use. Data from the household survey indicate that 24.6 percent <strong>of</strong>
females <strong>of</strong> childbearing age reported increasing their inhalant
consumption during the late stages <strong>of</strong> pregnancy, while 34.4 percent
maintained the same level <strong>of</strong> use. Only 26.5 percent reduced their
inhalant use during pregnancy.
These findings are alarming. They indicate that inhalants were the only
drugs that showed an increase in use during pregnancy. Additionally, the
data show that the rate <strong>of</strong> cessation <strong>of</strong> inhalant use among women during
pregnancy was much lower that those reported for other drug categories.
For coca paste and marijuana, the cessation rates exceeded 84 percent
and, for cocaine, alcohol, and cigarette smoking, the cessation rates were
over 50 percent.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
This is the first report on use <strong>of</strong> inhalants based on a nationwide study in
Colombia. Two previous studies with psychotropic substance use did not
analyze inhalant use.
Both the <strong>National</strong> High School Survey on Drug <strong>Abuse</strong> and the <strong>National</strong>
Survey on Mental Health in the Colombia population reported lower
prevalence rates <strong>of</strong> inhalant use than the rates reported by the <strong>National</strong>
Household Survey on Drug <strong>Abuse</strong> (Parra 1992; Torres et al. 1994).
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