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

with abuse potential, and additional products and substances are being
developed virtually every day.
State Governments
When State legislation is used to address inhalant abuse, law enforcement
and business regulation have been the primary focuses <strong>of</strong> efforts. Out <strong>of</strong>
43 States that have enacted some kind <strong>of</strong> legislation pertaining to inhalant
abuse, 41 have enacted provisions with a law enforcement approach, and
31 have enacted a business regulation approach. In contrast, only 10
States have enacted statutes that specifically contain prevention or
treatment policies (see tables 2-6).
No formal evaluations have been identified <strong>of</strong> the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> these
State initiatives. However, Mr. Hugh Young, the Executive Director <strong>of</strong>
SAFE, states that the business regulation policies are not enforced and
that there have been no successful prosecutions under these laws.
Statutes criminalizing abuse <strong>of</strong> inhalants (36 States) arguably have been
enacted primarily to allow prosecutors and judges to divert inhalant
abusers into treatment. Again, there are no data regarding the frequency
with which this has been done. The national drug treatment studies report
only between 2,500 and 5,000 admissions <strong>of</strong> inhalant abusers to treatment
in 1990 (Brandeis University 1992; <strong>National</strong> Association <strong>of</strong> State
Alcohol and Drug <strong>Abuse</strong> Directors 1991).
Seven States enacted laws calling for abusable products to add irritants in
order to discourage abuse <strong>of</strong> the products (table 4). In Texas and New
York, these statutes charged State commissions or agencies with
identifying and publishing lists <strong>of</strong> such “additives” that were approved as
safe for this purpose. After substantial effort, the Texas and New York
efforts to identify product additives were terminated because there was
insufficient agreement on what would be safe and effective additives. For
example, there is limited research showing that the only additive
currently in use, oil <strong>of</strong> mustard, may be carcinogenic.
The 10 States that have enacted prevention or treatment provisions into
law (table 1) arguably have done so mainly to guarantee that inhalant
abusers had access to some kind <strong>of</strong> treatment. However, there is no
treatment approach that specifically is designed for and demonstrated to
be effective at treatment <strong>of</strong> inhalant abuse. The only options are generic
drug-free residential and outpatient programs that treat polydrug abuse
using cognitive and behavioral therapy. Again, so few inhalant abusers
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