Volatile substance abuse (VSA) is often, though inaccurately, referred to as ‘glue sniffing’. It differs from other types of drug abuse in that it is primarily a problem of children and adolescents, and the substances used are legally available. Reliable prevalence estimates are difficult to obtain. Ashton (1990) found that between 3.5 and 10% of adolescents may have at least experimented with volatile substances, and that between 0.5 and 1% of the secondary school population may be current users. Ramsey et al. (2001) found that 7% of a sample of young people reported lifetime use of volatile substances but only 1% had used within the last year and less than this within the last month, suggesting that this behaviour was not habitual or regular use. Solvent abuse is often very localized and in these circumstances the percentage of young people using these substances may be considerably higher. The majority of volatile substance abusers are aged between 12 and 19. In a survey of over 2000 14–15-year-olds in London schools, Best et al. (2004) found the mean age of first use was 12.6 years, with those who used volatile substances tending to start use very soon after the first offer (see ‘Adolescent lifestyle’).

Volatile substances act like CNS (central nervous system) sedatives with a similar picture of acute intoxication. These substances are generally highly fat-soluble and diffusely toxic to the nervous system.