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Drug Information | Solvent Abuse
Stopping Solvent Abuse: What you can do to help.
The Problem of Solvent Abuse
Young people sometimes do crazy and risky things. Youth is a time for experimentation. If you look back on your own adolescence, you can probably think of things you did then that you wouldn't do now. The abuse of drugs and other substances is one of the many risky things that some teenagers do.
Drug and solvent abuse is a big problem In the UK today causing illness and death. Solvent abuse is the abuse of various household and industrial products to achieve intoxication. Many of these products can be bought in your store.
There are already controls on the sales of these products to young people. These controls have helped to tackle the problem, but the Government has now gone further, and has introduced legislation to make it an offence for retailers and other people to supply gas lighter refills to young people under 18.
It has not yet been possible to stop people abusing products by changing the formulation. Changing the container design or size may help in some cases, but it isn't a complete answer. One part of the solution is to have controls on sales.
This booklet Is to help you comply with this new law and to understand the reasons behind It. It tells you about the problem and what you and your staff need to do to uphold the law and protect young people.
What is It?
Solvent abuse is the use of any kind of volatile substance (that is, one that gives off fumes at room temperature) to get intoxicated. There are various names for it like 'glue sniffing' and 'solvent abuse'. Although many different everyday products, not just solvents, can be abused it is generally known as 'solvent abuse'. It's also called 'sniffing' although vapours are inhaled through the mouth as well as the nose. 'Volatile substance abuse' or VSA' are phrases you might also hear.
Sniffing is very dangerous. Deaths occur unpredictably ? even the first sniff could be someone's last. Most of those who are killed are teenagers. More teenagers die from sniffing household products than from all the illegal drugs. The latest annual figures (1997) showed 73 deaths were associated with sniffing ? that's more than one per week.
Website: http://www.re-solv.org/
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