ABSTRACT
The main focus of this study is to present some historical information on inhalant use as well as to review certain findings from the last three decades concerning the "sniffing" of volatile hydrocarbons. Additionally, in order to examine some suggested hypotheses which have emerged from prior inhalant studies, an analysis of 248 inhalant users who were treated in the emergency room of Jackson Memorial Hospital for reactions to the use of volatile hydrocarbons during a five-year period is presented. These "sniffers" appear to include individuals older than those previously studied and members of a large minority group, to be predominantly Caucasian, and to use primarily a locally manufactured transmission fluid "sealer" known as Transmission-Go.
Subject(s)
Hydrocarbons , Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Substance-Related Disorders/etiology , Adolescent , Adult , Black or African American , Age Factors , Arousal/drug effects , Cross-Sectional Studies , Emergencies , Female , Florida , Gases , Hallucinations/chemically induced , Humans , Hydrocarbons/poisoning , Male , Middle Aged , Psychoses, Substance-Induced/etiology , Sex Factors , Substance-Related Disorders/complications , White PeopleABSTRACT
The "professional thief" is a highly specialized predatory offender with a history that dates back to Elizabethan England. Although this type of criminal is generally associated with narcotic addiction, his drug-taking typically involved the use of heroin, morphine, and cocaine on an intermittent basis. However, trafficking in drugs was common to the "professional" underworld, and as a result this deviant fraternity had a notable impact on the impressment of a criminal model of drug use on twentieth century conceptions of the addict. The concept of "professional" theft is reviewed, the use of drugs by professional thieves is discussed, and the interaction between this underworld group and the early Federal Bureau of Narcotics is examined.
Subject(s)
Substance-Related Disorders/epidemiology , Theft , Cocaine , Crime , Humans , Legislation, Drug , Life Style , Opium , United StatesABSTRACT
In a follow-up study of 184 emergency room patients experiencing acute drug reactions, several respondents were inaccessible. In this paper the 83 accessible and 101 nonaccessible patients are compared in order to determine why respondents are often difficult to locate in a follow-up study. Those patients who were the most accessible proved to be primarily young, White males who had been referred to a traditional drug treatment program from the hospital emergency room. Those patients who were the least accessible proved to be primarily White females between 24 and 29 years of age who had not been referred for further treatment.
