CASAColumbia National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University

Press Releases: 1992-2000

CASA* PAPER: RURAL 8TH GRADERS USING DRUGS, SMOKING, DRINKING AT HIGHER RATES THAN URBAN 8TH GRADERS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

9 a.m. ET, Wednesday, January 26, 2000



CASA WHITE PAPER NO PLACE TO HIDE:
RURAL 8th GRADERS USING DRUGS, DRINKING AND SMOKING AT HIGHER RATES THAN URBAN 8th GRADERS
    Califano Calls For Emergency Anti-Drug Aid for Mid-Size Cities and Rural America Equal to $1.6 Billion Request for Colombia

Washington, DC - Smoking, drinking and drug use among young teens is higher in rural America than in the nation's large urban centers, according to a White Paper, No Place to Hide: Substance Abuse in Mid-Size Cities and Rural America, released by CASA at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors which commissioned the paper. According to the report, eighth graders living in rural America are 104% likelier to use amphetamines, including methamphetamine, than those in urban areas, and 50% likelier to use cocaine.

The CASA study, the first comprehensive assessment of substance abuse by population centers, reports that by any measure, the drug crisis is as common on Main Street as in Manhattan: AIDS is rising faster in rural areas than in large urban centers; more workers test positive for drugs in rural areas of Florida, Tennessee and Indiana than in the three largest metropolitan areas in these states; since 1990 drug law violations have increased more in small communities than in large cities; drugs are as available in small communities as they are in large cities, and adult drug use in such communities is equal to that in large metropolitan centers. At the same time, mid-size cities and rural areas are less equipped to deal with the consequences. Methamphetamine use has hit many areas of the West and Midwest especially hard, placing enormous pressure on hospitals, child welfare systems, treatment and law enforcement.

"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., CASA President and former U. S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. "It's time for all Americans to recognize that drugs are not only an urban problem."

Eighth-graders living in rural America are:

  • 34% likelier than in urban centers to smoke marijuana
  • 83% likelier to use crack cocaine
  • 29% likelier to drink alcohol and 70% likelier to have been drunk
  • more than twice as likely to smoke cigarettes and nearly five times likelier to use smokeless tobacco

    Among tenth graders, use rates in rural areas exceed those in large urban areas for every drug, except Ecstasy (MDMA) and marijuana. Among twelfth graders, use rates in rural America exceed those in large urban areas for cocaine, crack, amphetamines, inhalants, alcohol, cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. The study finds that adult drug use is about equal across communities of all sizes.

    Cocaine, crack, heroin and marijuana are reported to be easy to obtain regardless of location. Drug trafficking organizations from Mexico appear to be growing more involved in all aspects of the distribution of illicit drugs in mid-size cities and rural areas.

    Emergency Aid to Mid-Size Cities and Rural America
    Citing reports that the Clinton Administration is preparing to ask Congress for a $1.6 billion emergency appropriation for military operations and equipment to battle anti-drug efforts in Colombia, Califano called on the Administration and Congress to match "dollar for dollar aid to Colombia with aid to the rural communities and small and mid-size cities to battle substance abuse on our own soil."
    "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, give rural and small city citizens the ability to reduce the demand for drugs through expanded prevention and treatment services, and reduce the availability of drugs in smaller communities by increasing the capabilities of local law enforcement and strengthening the capacity of the DEA to stamp out illegal drug production in rural America," said Califano.

    Methamphetamine in the Heartland
    Increased use, trafficking and production of methamphetamine in rural communities and mid-size cities have been widely reported in recent years. Lab seizures by the DEA have increased six-fold in the past five years, from 263 seizures in 1994 to 1,627 labs in 1998. State and local law enforcement agencies seized an additional 4,132 labs in 1998, nearly all of which produced meth.

    Greater Consequences for Smaller Communities/Rural Areas
    For smaller cities and rural areas, the consequences of substance abuse - such as increases in crime, child abuse and neglect, health, social and other costs - are similar to those in larger cities. Mayors of mid-size cities and rural communities are doing what they can, but they lack the resources and expertise available to large metropolitan areas to combat this problem.

    What Can Be Done
    "The mayors of our nation are on the front line in the battle against drug abuse. This report confirms that prevention, education, treatment and enforcement must be the focus of their efforts," said Mayor H. Brent Coles of Boise, Idaho, Vice President and co-chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Drug Control Task Force. "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 calls for stepped up federal funding to:

  • provide timely and effective treatment to everyone who needs it.
  • provide resources to train local police and sheriffs and, where necessary, increase their capacity with skilled personnel and new equipment.
  • give incentives to attract trained health and treatment workers, alcohol and drug counselors and school nurses and train teachers so they can spot the symptoms of substance abuse and know what to do about it.
  • provide local leaders with the expertise and resources to establish drug courts.
  • develop model efforts that mobilize all the available resources--local, state and federal--to attack the problem in the most effective way.

    This CASA White Paper was funded by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In preparing the paper, CASA analyzed previously unreleased data from the 1999 Monitoring the Future Study, conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR) for the National Institute on Drug Abuse and special runs of data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, conducted for CASA by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration's (SAMHSA) Office of Applied Studies. CASA also analyzed data from the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) and the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and from the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (ADAM) of the National Institute of Justice in the Department of Justice. CASA examined statistics and studies from a number of states, conducted numerous interviews with local officials, law enforcement officers and other experts in substance abuse and reviewed more than 300 articles and publications.

    The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University is the only national organization that brings together under one roof all the professional disciplines needed to study and combat all types of substance abuse as they affect all aspects of society. CASA's missions are to: inform Americans of the economic and social costs of substance abuse and its impact on their lives; assess what works in prevention, treatment and law enforcement; encourage every individual and institution to take responsibility to combat substance abuse and addiction; provide those on the front lines with tools they need to succeed; and remove the stigma of substance abuse and replace shame and despair with hope.

    *The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University is neither affiliated with, nor sponsored by, the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (also known as “CASA”) or any of its member organizations, or any other organizations with the name of “CASA.” ã2004, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

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    *The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University is neither affiliated with, nor sponsored by, the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (also known as "CASA") or any of its member organizations with the name of "CASA."

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