Story: Māori smoking, alcohol and drugs – tūpeka, waipiro me te tarukino

Solvent use

This 1987 photograph shows a group sniffing solvents in Manners Mall, Wellington. Experimental solvent abuse was linked to boredom, while continued use was linked to family breakdown.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)

Reference: 0860

by Phil Reid

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Megan Cook, Māori smoking, alcohol and drugs – tūpeka, waipiro me te tarukino – Māori use of drugs, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/39873/solvent-use (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Megan Cook, published 3 December 2012.