Drugged Driving in Alcohol-restricted Rural Appalachia

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The literature on drug-impaired driving has not experienced the same growth as the alcohol-related DUI literature despite the early and continued recognition that drug-impaired driving is a major public health concern. This application proposes a study to examine alcohol-impaired and drug-impaired driving in rural Appalachia, a group of DUI offenders who are virtually unstudied. Although some counties in rural Appalachia allow alcohol sales (wet counties), several do not allow alcohol to be sold (dry counties), or limit alcohol sales to certain towns (moist counties). DUI remains a frequent crime in rural Appalachia despite these differing levels of alcohol availability. The high rates of prescription drug abuse in rural Appalachia may contribute to the incidence of DUI in these areas. In this pilot study, a sample of 120 rural Appalachian DUI offenders, stratified by level of alcohol sales restriction (wet, dry, or moist county), will be interviewed. The specific aims for this project are to: (1) Describe individual characteristics of rural Appalachian DUI offenders, including socio-demographic information, alcohol and drug use histories, attitudes and beliefs about alcohol and drug use, and history of impaired driving; (2) Identify similarities and differences between individuals from rural Appalachian DUI offenders who have driven under the influence of drugs and rural Appalachian DUI offenders who have driven under the influence of alcohol but not drugs; and (3) Identify similarities and differences between rural Appalachian DUI offenders convicted in counties with varying levels of alcohol sales restriction. The overall aim of this project is to add to our understanding of alcohol- and drug-impaired driving in rural Appalachia. The long term objective of this project is to collect data to be used by this new investigator to develop a competitive R01 application to design and test a tailored intervention for rural Appalachian DUI offenders that equally addresses alcohol- and drug-impaired driving. More than 35 million Americans drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs per year. This project will collect information to compare alcohol-impaired drivers to drug-impaired drivers from rural Appalachia, an understudied area yet known to have high levels of alcohol and prescription drug abuse. The long term objective of the project is to develop an intervention to reduce impaired driving in this area.