Community Influence on Youths' Use of Inhalants and Other Legal Products to Get High in Rural Alaska

This study examines the use of inhalants and other harmful legal products (HLPs) to get high among pre-adolescents in frontier Alaska communities. Community factors that may influence use of HLPs are highlighted. This study uses secondary data from two NIH studies in 19 Alaska communities. A hierarchal generalized linear modeling technique was used to model community level effects on HLP use. The results show that lifetime use was reported by 18% of the pre-adolescents. Pre-adolescents in "dry" communities (with laws restricting alcohol use) had much higher lifetime and past 30-day HLP use. The results suggest that additional study of the relationship between use of HLPs and local laws governing availability is warranted.