City Kids and Country Kids: Exploring Urban/Rural Differences in Adolescent Marijuana Use

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Communities, Neighborhoods, and Crime

Abstract

Some research on rural areas has focused on the idea of a rural underclass, with rural areas suffering from problems such as high levels of unemployment and drug abuse. There is a need for more comprehensive research on the substance use of rural youth. Prior research has noted that rural youth report earlier first use of marijuana and I hypothesize that the nature and context of marijuana use may vary across rural and urban places.

I use data from Monitoring the Future to examine urban rural differences in marijuana use. Preliminary analyses suggest that the marijuana use reported by rural youth differs significantly from urban youth in concerning ways. Rural youth report earlier first use as well as less disapproval and perceived risk of marijuana use. They also report smoking greater amounts of marijuana. I will also explore how the circumstances of marijuana use as well as reasons for use vary across location. Variations in the nature of marijuana use across rural and urban places have implications for prevention and treatment programs in rural and urban locations.

Author

• Laine Briddell, Christopher Newport University