cannabisnews.com: Study: Rural Teens Drug Use Grows 





Study: Rural Teens Drug Use Grows 
Posted by FoM on January 26, 2000 at 07:43:47 PT
By Genard C. Armas, Associated Press Writer
Source: Waco Tribune-Herald
Illegal drug use among adolescents in small-town and rural America is reaching alarming proportions, according to a private study today that urged the government to spend as much money fighting drugs in non-metropolitan areas as it does in foreign battlegrounds such as Colombia. 
Eighth-graders in rural America are 104 percent more likely than those in urban centers to use amphetamines, including methamphetamines, and 50 percent more likely to use cocaine, according to the study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Also, eighth-graders in rural areas are 83 percent more likely to use crack cocaine, and 34 percent likelier to smoke marijuana than eighth-graders in urban centers, the study said. It was released at the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in Washington. ``Bluntly put, meth has come to Main Street, along with other drugs and with magnum force aimed at our children, said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., president of the research group. ``It's time for all Americans to recognize that drugs are not only an urban problem.'' To help counter the trend, Califano called on the Clinton administration and Congress to adopt a $1.6 billion ``emergency aid'' package to help fund anti-drug efforts in rural America. On Tuesday, Clinton proposed a two-year, $1.6 billion aid package to Colombia, in part to assist with anti-drug efforts there. Clinton and Congress must match ``dollar for dollar aid to Colombia with aid to the rural communities,'' Califano said. Califano's group used five different sets of data, from public and private anti-drug organizations, to come up with their results, and also studied data from state and local law enforcement agencies. Each data set defined big cities and urban centers in different ways, but in general, they classified rural areas as those with populations of 10,000 or less. The study's results are frightening regardless of the way towns are classified, said Susie Dugan, executive director of Parent Resources and Information on Drug Education Inc. in Omaha, Neb. ``If the study's results are true, I'm not surprised,'' said Dugan, whose group works in Omaha, a city of about 365,000 people, as well as outlying rural areas. ``Our kids today are thinking it's no big deal to use drugs. ``I would support any increase in all aspects of drug prevention _ not just interdiction, but prevention in rural areas too,'' she added. ``We haven't spent adequate amounts in prevention.'' Boise, Idaho Mayor H. Brent Coles, co-chairman of the Conference of Mayors Drug Control Task Force, said ``A coordinated effort among local, state and federal governments will be essential to reduce both demand and supply and finally turn the tide against drug abuse throughout America's big cities and small towns.'' The study also found that: _Eighth-graders in rural areas were 70 percent likelier to have gotten drunk, and 29 percent likelier to drink alcohol. _Eighth-graders were more than twice as likely to smoke cigarettes, and nearly five times likelier to use smokeless tobacco. _Among 10th-graders, use rates in rural areas exceeded those in large urban areas for every drug except marijuana and the methamphetamine known as ecstasy. _Among 12th-graders, use rates in rural America exceeded those in large urban areas for cocaine, crack, amphetamines, inhalants, alcohol, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. _Adult drug use was about equal across communities of all sizes. WASHINGTON (AP)Published: Janaury 26, 2000Copyright 2000, The Associated Press. © Copyright 1999 Cox Interactive Media & Waco-Tribune Herald.
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Comment #4 posted by Doc-Hawk on January 28, 2000 at 05:32:18 PT:
Califano # %&*# 
When you see 'em quoting Califano, you know it is a lie paid for by the DEA (this case) or some other government propaganda ministry. He is famous for his "studies" paid for by you and me - studies that are never short on ugly statistics, and rhetoric, - and always short on logic, common sense, and the truth. 
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Comment #3 posted by Mike on January 26, 2000 at 11:59:44 PT:
They just don't get it
They can't fight something that won't go away, but they could certainly make money on it.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 26, 2000 at 09:08:31 PT
It is concerning me
Hi Rainbow! I haven't seen you for awhile so I thought I'd say Hi first. I am very concerned about this article. I do believe that Meth use is up in rural america because the price of Marijuana has gotten so expensive it is cheaper for kids to get Meth I think. Marijuana isn't a stepping stone drug, prohibition of marijuana is the real stepping stone to hard drugs. I updated your page I made you last year the other day. Hope you like it.Peace, FoM!
Rainbow's Page
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Comment #1 posted by Rainbow on January 26, 2000 at 08:39:50 PT
Working
Hey but I thought the Drug propaganda campaign and the 17+ bln we spent last year at the Federal level was working.My country is misleading me - OH my OH my.This type of report will start people thinking even more at the successes that have not happenned. Maybe more will become outraged. We need War Rage (I think I will trademark that term :-) ) we already have air rage and road rage.BTW these drugs have been in small towns for 30 years so I am not sure what the big revelation is. These guys just want more money.CheersRainbow
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