Nonmedical drug use among stimulant-using adults in small towns in rural Ohio

Falck, Russel S.; Siegal, Harvey A.; Wang, Jichuan; Carlson, Robert G.; Draus, Paul J.

doi:10.1016/j.jsat.2005.02.008

« Previous Next »Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
Volume 28, Issue 4 , Pages 341-349, June 2005

Nonmedical drug use among stimulant-using adults in small towns in rural Ohio

Center for Interventions, Treatment, and Addictions Research, Wright State University, School of Medicine, Dayton, OH 45435, USA

Received 19 July 2004; received in revised form 9 January 2005; accepted 24 February 2005.

Abstract

This study describes the drug-use practices and treatment histories of 249 not-in-treatment, drug-using individuals living in small towns in rural Ohio. Respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit participants who answered questionnaires administered by interviewers. Descriptive statistics and latent class analysis (LCA) were used to examine the data. The illicit drugs most commonly used in the 6 months before entering the study were marijuana (89.6%), cocaine hydrochloride (80.3%), and crack cocaine (76.3%). Injection drug use was not uncommon. About a third of the sample experienced drunkenness frequently. Less than 14% had been in substance abuse treatment recently. LCA revealed two groups: (1) heavy users of virtually all drug classes and (2) moderate-to-light users of fewer drug classes. White and younger people were more likely to be classified in the heavy user group. The results suggest that comprehensive substance abuse prevention and treatment programs are needed in rural communities.

Keywords: Substance abuse, Rural, Cocaine, Oxycodone, Epidemiology