STUDY: RURAL U.S. HAS HIGHEST TEEN DRUG USE RATE

WASHINGTON--When it comes to kids and drugs, the city is bad and small
towns are good, right? Wrong, says a report released Wednesday.

Young teens in rural parts of the United States are much more likely to
smoke, drink and use illegal drugs than their urban counterparts, according
to the report, commissioned by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at
Columbia University in New York looked at children in the eighth grade, who
are usually aged 13 and 14.

"Eighth-graders in rural America are 83 percent likelier than those in
urban centers to use crack cocaine, 50 percent likelier to use cocaine, 34
percent likelier to smoke marijuana, 29 percent likelier to drink alcohol
and 70 percent likelier to get drunk, more than twice as likely to smoke
cigarettes and nearly 5 times likelier to use smokeless tobacco," CASA
president Joseph Califano said in a statement.

The report found that rural eighth-graders were 104 percent more likely to
use amphetamines, including methamphetamine.

"Bluntly put, meth has come to Main Street, along with other drugs,"
Califano, a former secretary of health, education and welfare, said.

Even for older teens, the pattern holds largely true. Among 10th graders,
who are aged 15 and 16, rural residents were more likely to use all drugs
except for MDMA, known commonly as Ecstasy, and marijuana.

Rural twelfth graders, usually aged 17 and 18, were more likely to use many
drugs as well as tobacco and alcohol. But rates for adults do not differ
between the city and country.

Califano, who presented the results to a meeting of the U.S. Conference of
Mayors, pointed out that President Clinton has proposed asking Congress for
$1.6 billion in emergency money for anti-drug efforts in Colombia.

"If we can afford to provide such extraordinary resources for anti-drug
military operations in Colombia, then surely we can provide similar
resources to assure that every individual in America who seeks treatment
can get it," Califano said.

He also said money should be spent to help the DEA fight illegal drug
production in rural parts of the United States.

CASA looked at several studies of drug use in the United States, including
the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, and also interviewed local law
enforcement officials.