§ Mr. Irvingasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has commissioned any special studies into the nature of solvent abuse and the treatment and rehabilitation of those mis-using solvents.
§ Mr. John PattenWe are funding three studies into solvent misuse. One project being carried out under the direction of Professor R. H. Anderson of the department of clinical epidemiology and social medicine, St. George's hospital medical school, is investigating the effects of various teenage activities, including solvent misuse, on their health and educational performance. We are also funding a data-collecting exercise to ascertain the numbers and causes of deaths from solvent misuse in the United Kingdom. Another small-scale exercise is being carried out by Ms. B. Levey at the Brighton drug dependency unit. Its purpose is to locate and describe the local population of substance misusers and to estimate the prevalence of misuse.