Inhalants as intermediate drugs between legal and illegal drugs among middle and high school students.

The aims of this study are to: (1) describe the prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics of inhalant use among middle and high school students in Brazil, and (2) test the hypothesis of inhalants being intermediate drugs between legal and illegal drug use. A representative sample of 5226 students from private schools in São Paulo, Brazil, was selected to answer a self-report questionnaire. Weighted data was analyzed through Cox proportional hazards models. In the overall sample, inhalants seems to be an intermediate drug, since prior inhalant initiation was associated with first marijuana use, adjusted for previous alcohol and tobacco initiation.