Data were obtained from 1,244 children working and/or living on the streets of Tegucigalpa between 1990 and 1992. The street children were divided into those who sniffed glue and those who did not to identify salient factors that predicted drug misuse. Primary factors distinguishing street children who used drugs from street children who did not included encounters with authority, length of time children spent on the streets, and quality of family relations. Cultural and structural explanations of drug use by street children appeared to be of some importance. Supplemental information on the assessment of street children is appended. 43 references and 4 tables