Adolescent Drug Use in Three Small Rural Communities in the Rocky Mountain Region

Anonymous surveys of drug use were administered to eighth- and twelfth-grade students in three small rural communities and one mid-sized community in the Rocky Mountain region. Differences were found between the three small towns in both lifetime prevalence and the frequency of occurrence of different types of drug users, indicating that small rural communities are likely to develop idiosyncratic patterns of drug use. These differences were more evident among eighth-grade than among twelfth-grade students. Minimal differences were found between the combined small community sample and the urban sample. Use by small town youth, for some drugs, may even exceed that of students in urban communities, suggesting that youth from small communities no longer have lower use rates, at least in this region. Differences of use between seniors in the Rocky Mountain region (small town and urban communities combined) and the national senior survey [1] are relatively small, but significant, perhaps reflecting a regional pattern of drug involvement.