Overview
What is Inhalants and Solvents?
Inhalants are common household and industrial products that are breathed in to produce intoxication. The most commonly misused in Kenya are cobbler's glue (known as "kabuti" or simply "gum"), petrol, aerosol sprays, correction fluid, paint thinner, and butane gas.
Inhalant use is primarily associated with street children and the extreme poor because the products are very cheap and available without any age restriction. However, their use is not limited to this group.
Inhalants are uniquely dangerous because they can cause death with no warning on the very first use, through a mechanism called "sudden sniffing death" caused by heart rhythm abnormalities.
What it does to the brain and body
How does it work?
Why people use it
What draws people to it?
Extreme poverty and the absence of alternatives. A sachet of glue costs almost nothing and the intoxication suppresses hunger and despair.
Inhalants are the first available drug for many street children. Peers introduce them as a way of managing the misery of life on the street.
The very rapid onset of intoxication and the brief duration make them practical for people who have no stable or private place to use drugs.
Short-term effects
What happens when someone uses it?
These effects can occur even with first-time or occasional use.
- Brief, intense intoxication similar to being very drunk
- Hallucinations and distorted perception
- Loss of coordination and slurred speech
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache and dizziness
- Sudden sniffing death: fatal cardiac arrest with no warning
Long-term effects
What happens with regular or prolonged use?
- Severe brain damage affecting memory, thinking, and coordination
- Hearing and vision loss
- Liver and kidney damage
- Peripheral nerve damage (numbness and weakness in limbs)
- Permanent learning difficulties and cognitive impairment
- Damage is often visible on brain scans after prolonged use
Recognising a problem
Signs that use may have become a problem
These signs apply to the person using the substance and can also help family members or friends recognise when help is needed.
- Paint, glue, or solvent stains around the mouth and nose
- Smell of solvents on breath or clothing
- Empty solvent containers or small bags found among possessions
- Confusion, memory problems, or uncoordinated movement
- Red, sore, or watery eyes and runny nose
Addiction and dependence
How addictive is it?
Inhalants produce psychological dependence and tolerance. Physical withdrawal is less pronounced than with alcohol or opioids. The dependence is driven primarily by the substance being the only available means of escape from extreme deprivation.
Breaking inhalant dependence requires addressing the underlying conditions: homelessness, poverty, trauma, and the absence of alternatives. Without this, medical treatment alone has very limited impact.
Overdose and acute danger
When does it become immediately dangerous?
- Sudden sniffing death: the person collapses and dies from cardiac arrest with no warning
- Seizures
- Choking on vomit while unconscious
- Suffocation if inhalant is used with a plastic bag over the head
- Death from inhalants can occur on the very first use. There is no "safe" level of inhalant use.
Withdrawal
What happens when someone tries to stop?
Who is most affected
Groups particularly at risk in Kenya
Street children and youth are the primary users. Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru all have documented populations of street children using inhalants.
Children as young as eight or nine are documented inhalant users in Kenyan street populations. The younger the age of initiation, the more severe the brain damage.
In Kenya
What the data says about Kenya
Inhalant use is deeply connected to street homelessness in Kenya. Organisations working with street children, including Undugu Society and Child Welfare Society of Kenya, document high rates among the children they serve.
The legal status of inhalants creates a grey area: the products are legal commodities sold in hardware stores, yet their misuse causes severe harm. Prosecution is difficult and rarely pursued.
Effective intervention requires integrating rehabilitation, education, housing, and family reintegration. Several Kenyan NGOs and NACADA-licensed rehabilitation centres work specifically with street children.
Across East and Central Africa
How is it used in the wider region?
| Country | Local name(s) | Context and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Uganda | Glue, Kabuti | Significant problem among street children in Kampala. Fountain of Hope and other NGOs run specific programmes for street children using inhalants. |
| Tanzania | Gundi (glue), Petrol | Significant inhalant use documented among street children in Dar es Salaam and Mwanza. |
| South Africa | Glue, Thinners, Petrol | Widespread inhalant use among street youth across South Africa, particularly in Cape Town and Johannesburg. |
| Nigeria | Glue, Petrol | Inhalant use documented among street children in Lagos and other major cities. Associated with severe brain damage in affected youth. |
Getting help
Where to turn in Kenya
NACADA Helpline
Free, confidential counselling and referral to treatment centres near you. Available 24 hours a day.
Mathari National Hospital
Kenya's main national psychiatric and substance use treatment facility in Nairobi. Inpatient and outpatient services.
County referral hospitals
Every county in Kenya has a mental health and substance use service. Ask at your nearest hospital or health centre.
Undugu Society of Kenya
Rehabilitation and education programmes for street children in Nairobi, including those using inhalants.
Sources
References
- National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA). (2019). Trends and Patterns of Emerging Drugs in Kenya. Nairobi: NACADA.
- Kaminer, Y., & Bukstein, O. G. (2008). Adolescent Substance Abuse: Psychiatric Comorbidity and High Risk Behaviours. London: Routledge.
- Mwangi, S., et al. (2016). Substance use among street youth in Nairobi: A rapid assessment study. Kenya Medical Research Institute.
- National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA). (2022). National Survey on the Status of Drugs and Substance Use in Kenya 2022. Nairobi: NACADA.