Substance use in urban and rural Texas school districts

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare substance use between urban and rural secondary school districts in Texas between 1998 and 2003. The differences were analyzed using chi-square and analysis of variance. The analysis found that rural schools had students who reported higher rates of use of tobacco, frequent binge drinking, and driving while drunk and urban schools had students who reported higher rates of use of marijuana and driving while ‘stoned.’ However, the gaps in illicit drug use and drug use attitudes between urban and rural districts may be closing. Compared to 1998–1999, differences in perceptions of dangerousness and parental disapproval of use had narrowed by 2002–2003. This trend in rural use may be due to the fact that the percentage of rural schools providing drug education had decreased to levels similar to urban schools.