Scottish Police Practice and Attitudes towards Solvent Abuse before and after the 1983 Act
| Author | Frank R. Leishman |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8405700405 |
| Date | 01 October 1984 |
| Published date | 01 October 1984 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
FRANK
R.
LEISHMAN.
SCOTTISH POLICE PRACTICE
AND
ATTITUDES
TOWARDS
SOLVENT ABUSE BEFORE
AND
AFTER THE
1983
ACT
"The
police have picked up many jobs simply by being
available. Public
and
governments alike know they are
on the streets, or in theirstations all around the clock and
call upon them accordingly". Radzinowicz and King'
Introduction
The voluntary inhalation of vapours for the purpose of achieving
mind-altering effects is not a new phenomenon. Its antecedents can
be traced back to the earliest civilisations.2 In a review of the
literature, one Canadian
author
concluded
that
"the
highest
prevalence of solvent abuse seems to occur in native peoples
undergoing periods of cultural change".3Incidences of solvent abuse
have been reported in recent years from the U.S.A., Canada,
Australia, Europe, Scandinavia and many parts of the Third World."
Contemporary
Japan
is said to count glue sniffing, along with
amphetamine
and
alcohol abuse, among its three major drug
problems.5
Solvent abuse in Scotland stretches back at least 20 years.
The
late
Professor T. C. N. Gibbens made mention of the practice among
inhabitants of the
poorer
districts of Glasgow during the 1960's of
abusing coal gas by bubbling it
through
milk to make an intoxicating
beverage
and
also of "sniffing in some of the new plastic adhesives".6
However, the generally acknowledged starting point of Scottish
solvent abuse is Motherwell, Lanarkshire, November,
1970.7
It was
there
and
then
that
local police apprehended several youngsters who
appeared to be
drunk
and
incapable. Their states of intoxication,
though similar to those induced by alcohol, were found to have been
occasioned by inhalation of degreasing agents stolen from anearby
industrial plant.
Similar incidents occurred during
1971
and
1972 in Hamilton
where "shopkeepers were testifying to significantly mountingsales of
cleaning materials
and
adhesives to young people"."
The
police
investigated
and
increasingly found themselves called
upon
to give
talks to community groups
and
to dispense advice to anxious parents
and
concerned shop proprietors. In
the
absence of response by other
agencies, the police were seen as
"the
experts'"? Between 1973
and
330 October /984
1974,69 cases had come to police attention and these were analyzed
by Watson.10 In 1976, a further study was conducted by Oliver and
Watson.11
The following year came the first formal mention of the practice by
the Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland. In his annual
report, solvent abuse was described as "a worrying social problem for
the children and the parents of those involved" and it was stated
that
"early identification of children at risk is of vital importance". 12
It
was not until 1980, however,
that
the Chief Inspector of
Constabulary actually published figures relating to cases of solvent
abuse recorded by the police.
Fig. 1 Cases
of
solvent inhalation recorded by the police in
Scotland:
Year
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
Number
of
cases
2,240
2,399
3,312
2,168
1,933
Source: H.M. Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland, Annual Reports.
A "dark" figure
of
solvent abuse
Most crime, warn criminologists, is never recorded by the police and
what is revealed may not be typical. This unrecorded amount is often
referred to as the
"dark
figure". There are certain to be similar
shortcomings in police solvent abuse statistics. Oliver and Watson
(supra) suggested two reasons for under-recording:
I) on account of solvent abuse being predominantly agroup
activity, "clustering" of cases is likely to occur, thus
contributing to a misleading picture of its distribution;
2) there would be less likelihood of detection by police at specific
periods such as weekends when other commitments would
take precedence in terms of operational priority.
Another reason for failure to record was apparent to the Chief
Inspector of Constabulary when he disclosed that:
"The cases reported by the police are possibly only a minority of
those occurring and are the more obvious manifestation of the
problem. Young persons and others engaging in solvent
inhalation usually do so covertly". 13
The extent of "hidden" solvent abuse and, indeed, hidden crime and
drug abuse, could never be gauged with any great degree of certainty.
Adequate provision of resources to detect, treatand enforce depends
upon achievement of the most accurate quantitative assessment
possible. This study aimed to pinpoint where shortcomings in
recording may lie and to gain some impression of the new Scottish
solvent abuse legislation.
October 1984 331
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