Results from a study on the use of psychoactive substances in Nunavik are presented. The qualitative part of the study consisted of 108 semi-structured qualitative interviews with youth, parents, leaders and elders of four villages. Thematic content analysis of the material revealed different reasons and consequences of substance use and abuse in Nunavik, from the respondent’s standpoint. Among the reasons, respondents evoked pleasure, boredom and lack of activities, “colonization,” coping about different problems (poverty, victimization and suicide) and also intergenerational transmission. Concerning consequences, they mostly talked about family impacts including intimate violence and child neglect, but also about other deviant behaviors like drinking and driving and lucrative crimes. These results are discussed according to actual knowledge about causes and consequences of substance use among Inuit and non-Inuit.