Urban vs. Rural Drug Abuse

One of the fundamental questions about human behavior is whether or not our surroundings can influence our development and our habits. Do our personalities and heredity override everything else, or can we be a product of our environment? More specifically, what factors help create the habits of a drug addict? Does a person’s likelihood of encountering drug abuse – or specific drugs – change depending on where they live?

You can learn about this and more in the infographic below, which comes to us from 12 Keys Recovery. It dives into the differences between drug abuse in the urban and rural areas of the country. It probably goes without saying, but our busy metropolitan areas see the most drug abuse overall. What types of drugs are abused there, however? And do they differ from those abused in more rural areas? It turns out that rural areas are more likely to see alcohol abuse (50% vs. 36%) and opiates (11% vs. 4%). In urban areas, heroin is more common (22% vs. 3%), along with cocaine, which doubles its rate of abuse as compared to rural areas (12% vs. 6%).

To round out the bigger picture, things wrap up with a look at drug-related emergency room visits in the biggest cities in America. You may be surprised to learn that each and every city on the list far exceeds the national average. While we hope you are entertained by this infographic, it comes with a reminder to seek help if you – or someone you know – are suffering from addiction.

Infographic by 12 Keys Recovery

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Author: Daniel Faris, Blogger at New Music Friday and BlogSpike