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

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Adults and Older Students<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>Inhalant</str<strong>on</strong>g> abuse am<strong>on</strong>g undergraduates has been reported by Adelekan and<br />

colleagues (1992). In a survey c<strong>on</strong>ducted am<strong>on</strong>g 627 university students,<br />

lifetime use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> solvents was 3.7 percent, and use in the past m<strong>on</strong>th was<br />

1 percent. A survey <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Nigerian students in the United States (most <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

whom were born and grew up in Nigeria) showed lifetime prevalence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

6.3 percent, use in the past year <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 2.9 percent, and use in the past m<strong>on</strong>th<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> 2.1 percent.<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>Inhalant</str<strong>on</strong>g> abuse in the general populati<strong>on</strong> has been reported in <strong>on</strong>e study<br />

(Internati<strong>on</strong>al Council <strong>on</strong> Alcohol and Addicti<strong>on</strong>s 1988). The substances<br />

most frequently used were petrol, glue, and kerosene. Table 3 shows<br />

that, in the two cities where the study was c<strong>on</strong>ducted, lifetime use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

these substances ranged from 2.3 percent (for glue) to 15.1 percent (for<br />

kerosene). In the report, the authors noted the “wide variati<strong>on</strong> in the<br />

populati<strong>on</strong>s from the four centres that used solvents” (p. 16) but gave no<br />

reas<strong>on</strong> for their observati<strong>on</strong>. The explanati<strong>on</strong> may lie in the suspici<strong>on</strong><br />

menti<strong>on</strong>ed earlier that the questi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> inhalants were misunderstood by<br />

resp<strong>on</strong>dents, probably in <strong>on</strong>e center more than the other.<br />

TABLE 3. Percent use <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> solvents in the general populati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> two cities<br />

(values in percentages).<br />

Benin (N = 602) Ibadan (N = 450) Total (N = 1,052)<br />

Petrol 0.5 14.0 6.3<br />

Glue 0.0 5.3 2.3<br />

Kerosene 2.6 31.8 15.1<br />

SOURCE: Internati<strong>on</strong>al Council <strong>on</strong> Alcohol and Addicti<strong>on</strong>s (1988).<br />

THE EFFECTS OF INHALANT ABUSE IN NIGERIA<br />

One <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the ways in which the abuse <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> inhalants or many other drugs<br />

comes to the attenti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> experts is through hospital admissi<strong>on</strong> records.<br />

That was the case with cannabis, stimulants, cocaine, and heroin in<br />

Nigeria. Few studies <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> clinical populati<strong>on</strong>s (usually involving the<br />

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