Better health and ageing for all Australians

National Drug Strategy

Volatile Substance Misuse: a review of interventions - Monograph Series No 65

This review examines published and unpublished literature about interventions designed to combat volatile substance misuse (VSM), defined as the deliberate inhalation of a volatile substance in order to achieve a change in mental state.

    Report prepared by Peter d’Abbs of James Cook University and Sarah MacLean of Youth Research Centre at the University of Melbourne
    2008


    The review is an updated edition of one initially published by the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health as Petrol Sniffing in Aboriginal Communities: a Review of Interventions (d'Abbs & MacLean, 2000). Whereas the earlier review was restricted in scope to petrol sniffing, the updated review covers other forms of VSM such as inhalation of aerosol paints, and other settings besides remote communities.

    Volatile Substance Misuse: a review of interventions - Monograph Series No 65 (PDF 780 KB)

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