'In certain areas, the health of Nunavik women is precarious.'

Two separate surveys point to a crisis among women and girls in Nunavik who start to use drugs and alcohol by the time they're 13.

Highlights from the 2004 Qanuippitaa survey on health in Nunavik, which were released on Wednesday in Kuujjuaq, reveal disturbing increases in levels of mental distress and substance use among women.

Two in five women reported they felt hopeless during the month before the survey. More women than men reported they considered suicide or tried to commit suicide in the year before the survey.

Dr. Serge Déry, the public health director for Nunavik, said in 2005 that suicide is a leading cause of death in the region.

The distress of young women in Nunavik appears connected to alcohol and drug abuse, histories of sexual abuse and exposure to domestic violence.

Nearly six in 10 women said they experienced domestic violence. Three in 10 women said they had been frightened by threats of violence.

The residents of Kuujjuaq endured the highest levels of physical violence in Nunavik. People living in the region's two communities with bars, Kuujjuaq and Kuujjuaraapik, reported higher overall rates of physical violence.

About half said they suffered sexual abuse during childhood or adulthood.

"We don't have the rates for 1992 [when the last health survey was done] but in 2004, the numbers are alarming," Déry.

Overall, eight in 10 pregnant women smoked cigarettes, and half of these consumed alcohol.

Nearly seven in 10 women said they gambled.

For the survey, 1,056 Inuit men and women, 15 to 83, were received on board the Amundsen, interviewed and tested on their physical and mental health.

"In certain areas, the health of Nunavik women is precarious, compared to women in the South. We thought that in some areas it would be better but that's not the case," Déry said.

The Qanuippitaa survey did not look closely at girls under 15.

That gap is filled by an even more recent survey, which interviewed 405 youth, 11 to 21, in Inukjuak, Ivujivik, Kangirsuk and Kuujjuaq. Overall, about six in 10 participants in the survey told researchers they drink or use drugs.

This survey points to early drug and alcohol abuse as well as levels of emotional distress among youth, even among young girls as young as 12.

Regular drinkers started at about 13 and regular drug use started before 13. At least a quarter of elementary school students 11 to 14 said they used alcohol or another drug in the last year.

From Oct. 2004 to Jan. 2006, researchers from Quebec's institute for research and intervention in drugs spoke with youth.

They learned that in Nunavik:

• Half the girls drink and smoke pot;
• Girls are heavier users of drugs and alcohol than boys, although the opposite is true in southern Quebec;
• Binge drinking appears to be more pronounced among girls than boys – half of girls said they drank more than five drinks at least once during the past year, while only one in three boys said they drank a similar amount;
• Nearly eight in 10 girls smoke cigarettes, compared to six in 10 boys, and most said they smoke every day;
• More girls than boys also smoke pot, and some said they smoke pot every day.

Some girls said they had "gone out" with someone to get drugs or alcohol. In about half the cases, this was with an adult.

Some admitted stealing or bullying to obtain drugs or alcohol.

Most said drug and alcohol use caused money, school, interpersonal or family problems. More girls than boys reported having physical health problems caused by their alcohol and drug use.

Hardly any had spoken to a professional about their problems, even though researchers say these results show many Nunavik youth could benefit from more aggressive intervention.

And their problems may be more severe as they grow older. About a third of those who used alcohol or other drugs reported feeling less effect for the same quantity of drugs.

School seemed to have a positive effect on youth, as dropouts were the largest drinkers and dopers by age 14.

A cross-section of 109 Nunavimmiut also gave their opinions about the causes of drug and alcohol use among youth and how to deal with it. These results will be available early next year.