Drug Use on the Street in Jinja: The Shocking Truth

This very blog has in the past reported on the high level of drug use amongst children and young adults living on the street in Jinja. The drug used is paraffin, known locally as ‘mafuta’. To take it, around 30ml of paraffin is put into an empty plastic bottle.  A small piece of material is then added to the bottle which soaks up the liquid and the fumes which the material emits are then inhaled through the mouth. 30ml normally costs 300 Ugandan Shillings (less than 10p).

A boy hides his bottle of mafuta

As far as we know, there are no organisations or local groups working to address the issue, or even trying to find out more about it. So, in the past month or so, we’ve been conducting some research, split into two parts. The first part has focused on the facts and figures associated with street drug use; how many children and young adults are using drugs? How often do they buy it? Do they think they’ll still be using it in 2 years? How quickly after coming to the street did they begin using it?

Our research found that an incredible 80% of the children and young adults on the streets take mafuta regularly.  The majority buy it at least once a day, showing that it is a daily habit. 43% began using mafuta during their first month living on the street, which gives us an idea of just how quickly using mafuta becomes a part of street life for many.

61 % of children and young adults on the street said that they didn’t think they would still be using mafuta in 2 years.  Interestingly, the average length of time on the street was less for people who said they wouldn’t be using mafuta in 2 years, than for people who thought they would.  Suggesting, the longer you have been on the street using mafuta, the less optimistic you become about being able to stop.

Our research also found that on average users of mafuta earn less money, spend less money on food and are more likely to rely on left over food or food found in rubbish skips, than people living on the street who don’t take mafuta.

These results illustrate both the scale of problem and just how challenging a job it is to do something about it.  In next week’s blog we’ll tell you about the second part of our research; Why do they take mafuta? How they feel about other people seeing them take it? Who do they buy it from? Do they want to stop…?