Inhalants

 

• 6.1 Use
  • General Population
  • Youth and Young Adults
  • Special Populations
• 6.2 Interventions
  • Treatment

6.1 Use

General Population

• There are no publicly available estimates of inhalant use for Ontario adults based on surveys representative of the adult population.
  

Youth and Young Adults

• 2.8% of Ontario students (grades 7-12) reported inhalant use in the past year. Rates have decreased from 3.4% in 2013 and were highest (6.2%) among students in grade 7 according to the 2015 OSDUHS (n=10,426).³
  
• 2% of Ontario high school students (grade 7-12) reported (past-year) glue, gasoline, solvent or salvia use to get high in the 2012-13 Youth Smoking Survey (Ontario sub-sample n=7,018).⁹⁴
  
• Reported lifetime use rates were 1.0% for inhalants among Ontario postsecondary students, with 0.2% reporting past-month use, according to the 2013 NCHA Canadian survey (Ontario sub-sample n=16,123).⁶
  

Special Populations

Indigenous Populations

• Less than 0.5% of (n=1,425) First Nations adults (aged 18+) used inhalants (past-year) according to the 2008-10 Regional Health Survey representative of Ontario First Nation adults living on reserve.^8,9
  

Racialized Populations

• There are no publicly available provincial data on inhalant use among racialized populations.
  

Homeless and Street-Involved Populations

• 3% of homeless adults in Toronto reported using inhalants (past two years) among a stratified random sample (n=1,191) in 2004-05.¹² Among Toronto-based homeless adults, 2% used solvents and other inhalants regularly (+3 times/week) in the past year, based on a random sample of (n=368) homeless adults in Toronto (2006-07).¹¹
  
• One in five (20%) males and 13% of females reported popper use (past six months) among a convenience sample of (n=100) homeless youth (aged 16-24) who use substances surveyed in Toronto (Drugs, Homelessness and Health survey, 2008-09).¹⁴
  

Pregnant and Parenting Women

• There are no publicly-available provincial data on women's inhalant use during pregnancy.
  

Injection Drug Users

• Solvent use among IDUs increased from 1.0% to 1.6% between 2006-08; less than 1.0% of participants reported inhalant use (past 6 months) among a convenience sample (n=1,643) (Ontario Harm Reduction Distribution Program Evaluation).¹⁷
  

Recreational Drug Users

• 16% of Toronto 'recreational drug users' used poppers in the past year (2012-13 Health Canada High Risk Populations study).¹³
  
• Almost a quarter (24.3%) of a sample of gay and bisexual men who used drugs and attended gay dance clubs in Toronto reported using poppers "from time to time" among a convenience sample (n=74) in 2003.⁸³
  

6.2 Interventions

Treatment

• 0.3% (327 admissions) of patients presenting to Ontario publicly-funded substance abuse treatment reported glue and inhalants as a problem substance upon admission in 2012-13; a decrease of 50.2% (from 657 admissions) in 2007-08, according to data obtained from DATIS.²⁵