Adolescent inhalant abuse: Environments of use

A questionnaire survey of 285 consecutively recruited adolescents who were adjudicated to juvenile correctional facilities in Virginia was conducted u sing the Inhalant Use Questionnaire (1). White youths (36.1%) and youths fr om other ethnic backgrounds (44.4%) are significantly more likely to report past inhalant use than black youths (1.4%). The median age reported for fi rst-time use of inhalants is 13 years. Youths were divided between those wh o experimented with inhalants (27%) and those who were heavy users (27%). H uffing was preferred by 60% of youths. Of the youths, 52% reported using in halants with friends present, whereas 34% used inhalants when they were alo ne. Sites where youths reported inhalant use include at a friend's home (68 %), at home (54%): On the street (40%), at parties (28%): on school grounds (26%), and at school (18%). There are no gender differences in age of onse t of inhalant use, lifetime frequency of inhalant use, frequency of inhalan t use in the past year, or preferred method of using inhalants. The five su bstances most frequently used as inhalants include gasoline (by 57.4%), Fre on (40.45%), butane lighter fluid (38.3%), glue (29.8%), and nitrous oxide (23.4%). There were no gender differences for use of other products.