When approaching VSA one should take into account the very individual reasons for which young people become involved. This is by no means a definitive list, but motivations may include:
VSA can satisfy a youthful need to experiment. The buzz created by volatile substances, and the hallucinations which may accompany this, can provide new sensations in a culture which strives for ever-greater thrills.
The power of peer pressure can often be underestimated during the teenage years, which are a time of self-discovery and personal growth. The pressure to be popular can make it difficult to resist friends' persuasion, even when there are dangers, and taking risks can seem an easy way to impress friends.
Sniffing may arise as a symptom of another problem, rather than the cause. It can be a means of avoidance. When dealing with VSA, teachers and other adults should be aware of the effects of bereavement and divorce on young people, any mental or physical stresses associated with school or adolescence, or other emotional pressures. Young people who use VSA as a coping mechanism for these types of issues may feel the need for professional help.
Volatile substances can appear an attractive alternative to drugs as they are cheap and easy to buy or steal, and many are freely available in the home.
Sniffing can satisfy a need for new, exciting and cheap social activities.
The power to shock adults can be a means of asserting one's individuality during a typical period of conflict between parent and child.
Young people may see sniffing as comparable to their parents having a social drink at the pub.
Young people who have tried VSA can be broadly categorised into three groups:1
The first experimental group are less likely than the other two groups to engage with further drug use (other than cannabis). They are also more aware of the perceived health dangers of VSA and often share or grow to share the views of many 'at risk' young people, that VSA is a dirty, unpleasant activity. They tend to have tried it but not be overly impressed by the effects of it. Often the influence of parents and other strong 'role model' figures in their lives are also important in the decision to turn their back on VSA.
Accelerators tend to view VSA as a drug for poor, young or unfashionable people, one which lacks the social cachet of other substances. They are also likely to have less influence from parents or others in their lives, and many move on to other drugs and substances as they find these deliver a better high than VSA. Health risks are also cited by some in this group as a reason for stopping VSA.
Problematic users are most likely to do VSA on their own (as opposed to part of a group); this means they are less open to group peer pressure to stop abusing. They tend to abuse volatile substances regularly and so the amount they abuse increases and many had often moved to using harder drugs, particularly heroin and crack. Among this group, VSA is continued often as a substitute or catalyst for these harder drugs. These substance abusers seem to lack a personal safety net (disapproving parents and friends) to discourage their use and are often very unhappy or disengaged, using VSA as a way to block out problems in their lives.
* See Case studies (user categories) for examples of user experiences.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs reports that there is a general consensus that users can be seen as falling into three broad groups — the experimenters who are common, the controlled, episodic, users who are not uncommon and the chronic users who are a much smaller group, but it recognises that in reality professionals deal with a range of use rather than three distinct categories. The amounts of products used by experimental users is usually quite low, but chronic users may use in excess of 10 cans a day. Re-Solv has had reports of individuals using more than 30 cans per day.
The HEA survey2 suggests that VSA mainly occurs as a group activity. 88% of those who has used gas had done so with friends. Many of these had done so at a friend's house, in a public place, at home or at school. Some had also used solvents at parties.
A few individuals continue using solvents for a long period. People who have used solvents for some time, perhaps more than a year, may well have experienced other problems in their lives. This can include problems with relationships with family or friends. There may have been incidents at home or in school. As a result of their behaviour they may have come into contact with social services, health services, police or other statutory or voluntary services. These problems may result from the activity itself, but they may also have some bearing on why they use solvents in the first place.
It is not uncommon for volatile substances to be one of the first drugs people have tried (often linked to the relative ease of accessing volatile substances), and many stop abusing solvents once they gain access to other drugs. Abuse of volatile substances in conjunction with other drugs tends to be uncommon among younger or newer abusers. However, some do combine solvents with other substances (most commonly cannabis) to improve the buzz. In particular older abusers (who first started using as teenagers) continue to do VSA from time to time as an alternative to harder drugs, possibly because they are cheaper, or as a way to enhance the effects of harder drugs.1