STUDY PAINTS AN ALARMING PICTURE OF TEENAGE DRUG USE IN RURAL AREAS

WASHINGTON--Adolescents in small-town and rural America are much more
likely than their peers in urban centers to have used drugs, according
to a private study released Wednesday. The report urges the government
to reverse the alarming trend by funding the war on drugs in
nonmetropolitan areas as well as it does in countries like Colombia.

Eighth-graders in rural America are 104% likelier than those in big
cities to have used amphetamines and 50% likelier to use cocaine,
according to the study released by the National Center on Addiction
and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

The study also found that eighth-graders in rural areas are 83% more
likely to have used crack cocaine and 34% more likely to have smoked
marijuana than their urban counterparts.

The figures, based primarily on 1999 data, also found that
eighth-graders in rural areas were 70% likelier to have gotten drunk
and 29% likelier to drink alcohol.

Eighth-graders were more than twice as likely to smoke cigarettes and
nearly five times more likely to use smokeless tobacco, the study
found. Rural 10th and 12th graders also were found generally more
likely to use drugs than urban counterparts.