Inhaling alcohol vapour or mist: An international study of use, effects and harms.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence, patterns of use and consequences of inhaling alcohol vapour or mist. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey recruiting an international non-probability sample of people who use alcohol and other drugs as part of the annual Global Drug Survey (GDS). SETTING: Online questionnaire translated into 19 languages. PARTICIPANTS: 110,557 people took part in GDS2020 and 88,124 completed a question about inhaling alcohol in the last 12 months. The focus of this study is GDS2020 respondents who reported inhaling alcohol mist/vapour from a balloon in the last 12 months. MAIN OUTCOMES: Last 12-month use of alcohol vapour, onset duration, intensity of effects, value for money compared with alcohol, and incidence of falls/injuries. RESULTS: A total of 803 people reported the use of alcohol vapour in the last 12 months, with 51% of the sample coming from 3 countries Australia, Denmark and England. Two-thirds were male, and they were more likely to be under 25. 45.7% reported that they were a bit/very drunk before they inhaled alcohol. 51.3% reported that the effects lasted for less than 5 mins. Both the intensity of effect and perceived value for money showed a normal distribution on a 10-point scale. 12.7% of respondents reported falling/injuring themselves. CONCLUSION: Inhaling alcohol vapour appears to be more common amongst younger, higher-risk drinkers. The rapid onset of action and inability to titrate consumption to effect is a risk for acute injury. We consider that alcohol is harmful enough through oral consumption without adding to the risk of injury by offering such a potentially risky additional administration method.