Brasília, May 10, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - "I snort thinner, smoke pot and whatever else is around." This statement by W.C.B.S., who is now 13 years old, is a portrait of Brazil's street kids. The adolescent began to use drugs when he was eight; his father gave him his first cigarette.

Maria Fátima Sudbrack Olivier, a psychologist who coordinates the Chemical Dependence Research and Alert Program (PRODEQUI), says that drug use by children and adolescents who live in the streets is a social issue.

According to a study by the Brazilian Psychotropic Drug Information Center (CEBRID), solvents represent the second most-consumed illegal drug in Brazil. Marijuana is in first place. Among people aged 12-65, the index of those who have inhaled solvents at least once in their lifetime is 5.8%, more, for example, than in Spain (4.0%), Belgium (3.0%), and Colombia (1.4%).

The coordinator in charge of Mental Health in the Ministry of Health, Pedro Gabriel Delgado, says that it is important to have a social inclusion policy, since the situation is serious. "The euphoric feeling induced by the use of solvents is followed by depression," Delgado says. He reports that the consumption of solvents among street boys is twice what it is among their female counterparts. According to the coordinator, solvent users also consume alcoholic beverages. "The consumption of alcohol in the country begins, in many cases, when the youth is 11," he affirms.

Widely sold products such as varnish, gasoline, glue, enamel, and thinner contain solvents. In an attempt to prevent this substance from being used as a narcotic, chiefly by street children and adolescents, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) proposes that the chemical composition of these products be altered.

What the Anvisa wants is for all neurotoxic substances to be eliminated from these inhalable products. In addition the agency wants these products to include a component that has an unpleasant odor, without toxic effects, to discourage inhalation.

For the psychologist Olivier, by itself the Anvisa proposal will not resolve the issue. "The problem with solvents is that there is no control," the psychologist observes. According to her, it is prohibited to sell these products to underage children, as in the case of cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, but the law is not enforced.

Translator: David Silberstein