Members of Tauranga's homeless community are turning to lighter fluid as glue becomes scarcely available during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Homeless advocate Heidi Tidmarsh says rough sleepers usually bought glue from hardware stores but they were all closed due to lockdown restrictions.
And a security guard in Tauranga's CBD says lighter fluid highs made users more "alert and aggressive" than glue highs, which made them "zombie"-like.
Lighters are powered by butane, a highly flammable, colourless liquefied gas. Several people have died in New Zealand after huffing it, including a 16-year-old Rotorua boy in 2011.
The security guard, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said people on glue were often "in another world" and had slower reaction times.
He said there had been a spate of break-ins on construction sites around Tauranga during the lockdown.
"They're not taking tools, they're looking for glue. They'll do anything for that stuff.
"Unfortunately, the glue that they're grabbing is life and death, you inhale that and you can't come back from CPR."
Tidmarsh said many people had been accessing lighters from dairies and the fluid "looks like it wastes you pretty good".
Mount Maunganui general practitioner Tony Farrell said butane was a dangerous substance and there were a few deaths each year from inhalation.
Butane can cause drowsiness, suffocation, heart palpitations, temporary memory loss or death when inhaled, typically by what is called "sudden sniffing syndrome", he said. Long-term damage includes kidney, liver, and brain damage, and seizures. Butane also cools rapidly which can cause cell death and frostbite injuries to the tongue and lips.
Farrell said it was not a common way to get high. People aged between 11 and 20 were more likely to try it, he said.
Regardless of the substance, either lighter fluid or glue, Farrell said both were "volatile hydrocarbons".
Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services director Tommy Wilson said last lockdown "homegrown synnies" [synthetics] were the most common way people made-do in terms of their addictions.
"My main concern is these people haven't got a place to stay, they're going to be walking around with heightened mental issues and substance abuse."
Bay of Plenty District Health Board mental health and addiction services business leader Jen Boryer said they were not aware of any significant changes to the substances their clients are currently using.
While the addiction service is open to referrals from solvent and synthetic substance users, alcohol was the predominant substance people were needing support with.
She said they had not heard of supply chains that were halted, with most clients - who have problems with alcohol - still able to access this at supermarkets and online.
She said liquor stores being shut was the most common problem reported in last year's lockdown and people were unprepared.
"This time there was a large increase in alcohol sales reported on the eve of lockdown, so people seem to have stocked up.
"We did not hear about any particular changes to the supply of illicit substances during last year's lockdown."
A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said the ministry met regularly with other social agencies as part of the ministry's "Psychosocial Response to Covid-19".
She said it was also meeting regularly with psychosocial coordinators at each health board to evaluate any issues and needs related to housing issues and people experiencing homelessness. This included the mental health and addiction support that may be required.
A police spokeswoman last week said staff across the district had not noticed a shift in substances.
She said police knew of people that sniffed glue in Tauranga's CBD, however, it was not, in general, common across the region.
She said there was no information in either Tauranga or Rotorua to indicate an increase in burglaries or thefts targeting alcohol stores; nor was there information to suggest a spike in battery thefts, and commercial burglaries or thefts targeting glue.