Drug abuse among kids in the rural areas

Within Montana the average age of first drug or alcohol use is 13. Three challenges arose from this young age. First materials for prevention or treatment were tailored for high school students with only limited application for middle school or younger children. Second in the case of alcohol abuse it showed how ingrained into the families and culture alcohol use had become. Third the rapid rise of prescription drug abuse made drugs accessible to younger children not previously able to access illegal drugs. The factors that caused them to begin use of drugs/alcohol by age 13 began when they were much younger.

Substance use and misuse within a rural community can present many problems. Increased crime and violence, vehicular accidents caused by driving while intoxicated, spreading of infectious diseases, fetal alcohol syndrome, risky sexual behavior, homelessness, and unemployment may all be the result of one or more forms of substance use.

These problems are exacerbated by several unique challenges for rural communities:

• Behavioral health and detoxification (detox) services are not as readily available in rural communities and, for those that are available, their range of services may be limited.
• Patients who require treatment for substance use disorder may need to travel long distances to access services.
• Rural first responders or rural hospital emergency room (ER) staff may have limited experience in providing care to a patient presenting with the physical effects of a drug overdose.
• Law enforcement and prevention programs may be sparsely distributed over large rural geographic areas.
• Patients seeking substance use disorder treatment may be more hesitant to do so because of privacy issues associated with smaller communities.

 

In any area rural or urban admitting that you have a problem and need help are hard things for people to admit. This is increased in rural areas where self-sufficiency and rugged individuality are admired traits. Asking for help is often viewed as a weakness or moral failure. Getting people to admit that there is a problem and undergoing treatment in communities where everyone knows everyone is much harder as the chances are high if you go to treatment your neighbors will know it. Fear of being “found out” prevents many people who know they need treatment from seeking it. To combat these issues treatment programs have adopted 2 strategies. First is to have outreach campaigns utilizing print, commercial, and social media that utilize people from occupations that are generally viewed as “tough” such as law enforcement, ranching, rodeo, or mining. These send a powerful message that admitting to seeking treatment is a sign of strength not weakness. The second strategy is to provide treatment at neutral locations such as schools or faith based institutions so that a person needing treatment doesn’t have to risk being seen at a treatment facility. Programs located off site have a higher rate of initial participation and a higher rate of completion then those located in traditional clinic setting.