“Stuck Nose”: Experiences and Understanding of Petrol Sniffing in a Remote Aboriginal Community

Abstract

While petrol sniffing amonge Australian Aboriginal youth has received significant public and academic attention, the experience of petrol sniffing as articulated by sniffers themselves and community's perceptions of petrol sniffing have been underexplored. Through an ethnographic analysis of a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory Australia, a range of perspectives on petrol sniffing are elucidated in order to understand both the experiences associated with sniffing and non-sniffers’ perceptions of the activity. We argue that contextualizing sniffing within the community is essential to understanding petrol sniffing, and hence to providing appropriate health interventions. It..