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

problem would go away like other teenage fads. In 1988, at the
suggestion <strong>of</strong> BAMA, a repeat <strong>of</strong> the 1983 meeting was held at Guy’s
Hospital to assess the efficacy <strong>of</strong> the approaches recommended at the
previous meeting (Flanagan et al. 1989). The second meeting concluded
that further restrictions on the sale <strong>of</strong> abused products was unlikely to be
practical and that a broad-based educational strategy in schools <strong>of</strong>fered
the best hope to limit the problem. Johns (1991) in an editorial
commented that the 1,000 recorded deaths should be sufficient to get
VSA back on the national drug abuse agenda.
Faced with evidence <strong>of</strong> increasing mortality, the Government became
more proactive; 1992 was a general election year, and Britain held the
presidency <strong>of</strong> the European Community between July and December.
During this period, the United Kingdom hosted the first European Drug
Prevention Week (EDPW). In February, the United Kingdom
Department <strong>of</strong> Health commissioned a national television advertising
campaign to publicize the availability <strong>of</strong> a leaflet titled “Solvents: A
Parent’s Guide,” which gave information on the nature <strong>of</strong> VSA, what to
look for, and where to seek help and advice. About 700,000 <strong>of</strong> these
leaflets were distributed during the campaign and a further 2,900,000
during EDPW. FREEPOST and a toll-free telephone service handled
requests, and they also were made available from doctors’ surgeries,
libraries, and community pharmacies. The total cost <strong>of</strong> the project was
2.4M, and an evaluation <strong>of</strong> the campaign was undertaken by Research
International (1992). In October 1992, the United Kingdom Department
<strong>of</strong> Health ran a pilot campaign designed to compare the effectiveness <strong>of</strong>
different direct distribution methods for a shorter leaflet, “Solvent
<strong>Abuse</strong>—Every Parents Guide.” Magazine inserts and household delivery
with and without the support <strong>of</strong> television advertising were evaluated, and
the results were published (Research International 1992).
In 1993, the United Kingdom Home Office Advisory Council on the
Misuse <strong>of</strong> Drugs published the report <strong>of</strong> its Prevention Working Party,
“Drug Education in Schools: The Need for a New Impetus” (Advisory
Council on the Misuse <strong>of</strong> Drugs 1993). The report called for:
High-quality classroom drug education on a national scale;
Partnerships between pupils, teachers, parents, governors, and the
community to tackle drug misuse;
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