Other Drug Abuse and Dependence Disorders

Abstract

An amazing, ever-expanding array of drugs is used and abused nonmedically. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980), suggests the range of intoxicants: five classes of substances subject to abuse and dependence (alcohol, opiates, barbiturates/sedatives, hypnotics, amphetamines, and cannabis); three classes of substances associated only with abuse (cocaine, phencyclidine [PCP], and hallucinogens); and one substance associated with dependence only (tobacco). There are also diagnostic categories for “other” drugs and for “unspecified” or unknown substances, including the abuse of volatile solvents. Each of these categories group together rather disparate substances, for example, more than 20 amphetamine derivatives (Grinspoon & Hedbloom, 1975), the many sedative, tranquilizing and hallucinogenic substances, and the various forms of cannabis; the “volatile solvents” category includes a variety of compounds found in aerosols, fingernail polish, gasoline, lighter and cleaning fluids, and various household glues and cements (Barnes, 1979).