)Ze
nt Gov-
. in the
mston
i. The
ie day -
n will
i beef
phar-
other
mtors
;ry of
1977
iy the
tivelv
Chet
artz,
lated
a
is not
I'ainst
. And
:y she
;irting
le has
arch
il man
;o out
arm bad as city
Drug abuse high
you re thinking of" moving to
l Texas to avoid the drug prob-
olthe hig city, think again,
study by two Texas A6cM Uni-
ity researchers shows drug
f in rural Texas is no less than
if major metropolitan areas of
fate.
®s A&M sociologists Kenneth
erg and Alex McIntosh have
t the past two years surveying
11,358 students in grades 7-12
interviewing everyone from
The largest single drug
ised in rural Texas is al-
ol. Marijuana runs a
se second; it is light-
rs ahead of any other
its to pushers in the Brazos Val- C 1
rea of Texas.
'berg and McIntosh both stress
their study might be applied to
of rural Texas. The seven
ty area under study is coin
'd of Grimes, Brazos, Madison,
ertson, Leon, Burleson and
hington counties.
fa family has decided to move
ie country to escape the drug
'ems of the city, they’re just
ing themselves,” said Nyberg.
rug a person wants — from
heroin on down to alcohol — can be
gotten in any rural county of Texas.
“In fact, the largest single drug
abused in rural Texas is alcohol,” he
added. "Marijuana runs a close sec
ond; it is light-years ahead of any
other drug.
More than 75 percent of the stu
dents surveyed, ages 12 to 20,
abused alcohol, Nyberg related.
Some 23 to 24 percent used
marijuana, and in one county alone,
4 percent of the students surveyed
had tried heroin.
"The sad thing is, these figures
are very conservative,” McIntosh
lamented. "The real numbers are
probably much higher.”
Some of the findings made by the
Texas A&M team showed:
— Young people in rural areas
begin using drugs at earlier ages
than urban area children (some of
the children surveyed had begun
using drugs as early as age 10).
— The first drugs many rural
cnildren use are often chemical
solvents, such as glue, kerosene and
gasoline.
— Rural girls prefer pills (often
diet and sleeping pills taken from
home medicine chests) to
marijuana.
Other findings indicated rural
youth are twice as likely to sell
drugs for profit than urban young
sters and white rural children are
more likely to deal in drugs than
blacks or Mexican-Americans,
McIntosh said.
A lot of rural parents are blaming
the increase in drug use on urban
children moving into the country,”
Nyberg said. “That’s simply not
tine.
“These kids were using drugs
long before people started moving
into the country,” he explained. "In
fact, we found that the drug abuse
was much higher for lifetime resi
dents of rural areas. ”
The National Institute of Drug
Abuse has asked the Texas A&M
Rural youth are twice as
likely to sell drugs for
profit than urban young
sters and white rural chil
dren are more likely to deal
in drugs than blacks or
Mexican-A merica ns, Meln-
tosh said.
team to devise a national rural drug
abuse study, which it should begin
in June 1979.
"Drug abuse in rural Texas is not
a problem you can close your eyes
on and forget,” Nyberg said. "From
what we’ve seen this far, we don’t
expect it to decline. "
after
kill-
I’lltlv
; of
7
1
;nce
1 by
ac-
ught
low.
eat-
ons’
:han
umor killing protein
sed in $2 million test
United Press International
H)RK — The American
rer Society is putting $2 million
if most it has ever invested in a
If test — behind efforts to learn
iimstance produced in the body
slow the growth of cancerous
ors in humans.
ie Cancer Society said it hopes
a'e some indication within six
iths whether the substance,
o interferon, will work without
harmful side effects of some
r antitumor agents,
iterferon, a protein substance
irr 'ng naturally in the body is
produced by a virus-infected
The aal cell, has been shown to
i for nktumors in animals and has al-
ofa »yhelped some humans.
Dr. Jordan Guttermam of Hous
ton’s M.D. Anderson Hospital and
Tumor Clinic and Dr. Thomas C.
Merigan Jr. of Stanford University-
Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif.,
are hoping to prove whether in
terferon:
—Will stop growth of human
tumors at a faster rate than it inter
feres with normal cell growth.
—Activates the normal body de
fenses against infection and cancer,
giving the tumor host, the cancer
patient, a double punch against
cancer.
—Circulates in the blood stream,
keeping an active patrol at the cellu
lar level against cancer cells, upset
ting their viability at first contact.
The three to six-month test of in
terferon will involve 150 randomly-
selected cancer patients divided
into two groups — one will get in
terferon in treatments that will cost
$25,(MM) to $30,(KM) a person and the
other group will not.
The Cancer Society each year col
lects more than $100 million from
Americans interested in fighting
cancer. But this is the most money
the Society has put into a test of a
single antitumor substance.
In a telephone interview Gutter-
man said if the testing is successful,
there will be positive proof interfe
ron can keep some killer tumors
from growing to a lethgl size
choking vital life processes and kill
ing the host. ,,j ‘
T)#
Newlt
i \co^ e
TODAY
IS
. Af. tf
°//.
109 BOYETT
DOLLAR DAY!
ALL SUBS
(Except #21 and #22)
(Next to Campus Theatre)
846-8223