Age of Inhalant First Time Use and Its Association to the Use of Other Drugs

Inhalants are the 4th most commonly abused drugs after alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Although inhalants are often referred as Gateway Drugs this hypothesis is less examined. Using the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data, age of first time inhalant use was compared with the age of onset of other drugs among 6466 inhalant users who also used at least one of 14 other drugs. Findings indicated that only 4.2% multiple drug users who used inhalants prior to other drugs, especially alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Thus, the theory that inhalants are gateway drugs was not supported. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)