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

using their product, the children merely would find another source <strong>of</strong>
volatile compound. The producers <strong>of</strong> butane were more responsive, and
they are prepared to research aversive additives. On a wider front, the
United Kingdom chemical industry has a program called Product
Stewardship and a Responsible Care program, which, although primarily
conceived to address environmental issues, may be a means to bring
deliberate product misuse to the attention <strong>of</strong> the chemical producers.
Labeling
Labeling <strong>of</strong> abusable products has been considered in the United
Kingdom, but any proposal to do so now requires an agreement at the
European Community level and would in any case be controversial. One
interesting suggestion is to label wholesale packs to remind retailers <strong>of</strong>
the abuse potential <strong>of</strong> certain products without drawing them to the
attention <strong>of</strong> potential users.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
There are very few agencies dealing directly with volatile substance
abusers at the street level, and most are set up in response to the death <strong>of</strong>
a local child. The organizers tend to lack pr<strong>of</strong>essional training and
resources, and their organizations <strong>of</strong>ten dissolve with time. Community
Drug Teams (CDTs) are underresourced and <strong>of</strong>ten feel it is not
appropriate to mix children with VSA problems with their older clients,
most <strong>of</strong> whom are opiate users.
There is a considerable social stigma attached to VSA. Even heroin users
view such users with contempt. One local response to fill this gap
between ad hoc community groups and the CDTs is the Solvent <strong>Abuse</strong>
Resource Group (SARG), which was founded in Blackbum in 1989 to
provide services to users and pr<strong>of</strong>essionals. It provides services to users
and parents <strong>of</strong> users who drop in or telephone; SARG accepts referrals
from other agencies. It also <strong>of</strong>fers support and training to pr<strong>of</strong>essional
and lay groups. It operates on a very limited budget and is run by a
retired child care social worker and a handful <strong>of</strong> dedicated councillors.
Although SARG has received grants from the Department <strong>of</strong> Health and
Blackbum Borough Council, funding usually is its main problem, as it is
for many groups <strong>of</strong> its kind. Ives (1991) edited the proceedings <strong>of</strong> a
conference held by the <strong>National</strong> Children’s Bureau in 1990 that include
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