Gateway Transitions in Rural Irish Youth: Implications for Culturally Appropriate and Targeted Drug Prevention (Letter to the Editor‪)‬

Dear Editor, In recent times rural areas in Ireland are indicating comparable drug availability and prevalence of use to urban settings, with the recognition of development of unique rural drug subcultures (NACD, 2008). Additionally, there is a dearth of research on drug-use initiation and transitions among Irish youth, and most particularly outside of the urban context. This letter presents snapshot quantitative findings from a large scale concurrent mixed method study on rural youth substance use in the South East of Ireland. It aims to discuss the observed quantitative findings with reference to potential implications for the design of culturally appropriate and drug specific drug education initiatives in rural Ireland.