Illicit drug use in the rural United States is increasingly common, yet little is known about drug users’ treatment-seeking behaviors. This study identifies predictors of substance abuse treatment entry over 24 months among 710 illicit stimulant users in rural areas of Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Active users of powdered cocaine, crack cocaine, and/or methamphetamine (MA) were recruited using respondent-driven sampling. Participants completed structured interviews at baseline and follow-up questionnaires every 6 months for 24 months. Data were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards model. The paper is informed by the Anderson-Newman Model. Overall, 18.7% of the sample entered treatment. Ohio or Kentucky residence, perceived need for substance abuse treatment, higher ASI legal problem composite scores, prior substance abuse treatment, and tranquilizer use were positively associated with treatment entry. Non-daily crack cocaine users and marijuana users were less likely to enter treatment. The findings can help inform rural substance abuse treatment program development and outreach.
This article describes barriers to obtaining drug abuse treatment in the rural South using qualitative interviews conducted with 86 illicit stimulant users recruited in rural Arkansas and Kentucky between 2003 and 2005. Fifty-nine (69.0%) of the interviewees had never entered drug abuse treatment. Sixteen (19.0%) participants reported current perceived need for treatment, while seven (8%) were ambivalent about seeking it. Interview data suggest five interrelated categories of barriers to accessing drug abuse treatment: (1) geographical, (2) organizational, (3) economic, (4) social, and (5) psychological. The study findings can inform further examination of rural treatment barriers and have important implications for developing strategies to overcome these obstacles.
Research on methamphetamine use and related issues often uses data from in-treatment and post-treatment populations in urban areas. Rural ethnographic studies are less common. particularly self assessments by active methamphetamine users that explore use patterns and their adverse consequences. Such work is especially rare in the rural South. where illicit methamphetamine manufacture and use have recently been increasing. This article presents an ethnographic overview of methamphetamine use in rural Kentucky and Arkansas based on qualitative interviews conducted with 34 active, not-in treatment, primary methamphetamine users. Methamphetamine supply, distribution. and prevalence of methamphetamine use are described. Pathways and motivations for methamphetamine use and use patterns are outlined as well. A discussion of the adverse consequences and potential risks of methamphetamine use follows. The findings indicate that informed drug treatment outreach and reduction of potential adverse consequences among methamphetamine users in rural areas are important issues for public health and for interventions.
There are no studies of African Americans methamphetamine use in the South where it is widespread among whites. We describe factors that inhibit or facilitate the diffusion of methamphetamine use among African Americans based on qualitative interviews with 86 drug users in rural Arkansas and Kentucky. Results suggest low prevalence of methamphetamine use among African Americans, and interviewees cited several barriers to its diffusion which were linked to the drug's ingredients, psychoactive and physiological effects, difficulty in accessing distribution networks, and established African-American preference for cocaine. Fourteen African Americans reported methamphetamine use and discussed pathways to it. Possible increases in African- American methamphetamine use merits further investigation.
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