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

FIGURE 2. Drug Registry System (SRID) trends <strong>of</strong> inhalant use by
age.
SOURCE: Ortiz et al. (1993); Mexican <strong>Institute</strong> <strong>of</strong> Psychiatry.
from 4.60 to 5.00 percent. <strong>Inhalant</strong> use in the last year increased from
1.78 to 2.4 percent and current use from 0.04 to 1.06 percent (Medina-
Mora et al. 1993). At a national level, inhalation <strong>of</strong> substances with
psychotropic effects, among urban students, increased between 1976 and
1986 from 0.9 to 4.7 percent (Castro et al. 1986).
Results from followup studies (Leal et al. 1977; Ortiz and Caudillo 1985)
show that inhalant abuse usually stops with the maturation that occurs
upon reaching young adulthood. A few users shift to marijuana and the
vast majority to alcohol. In spite <strong>of</strong> this, the information reporting system
shows a trend toward older users. In 1987, only 11 percent <strong>of</strong> cases
related involved individuals older than 24 years <strong>of</strong> age, and 5 percent, 30
years and over. In 1992, the percentages were 30 percent and 14 percent,
respectively (Ortiz et al. 1993) (figure 2). This trend is associated with an
increase among employees and temporary workers (figure 3). Perhaps
this increase in working users is due to the fact that inhalant substances
are available more readily in the workplace than in other places.
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