Drug abuse and the differences in drug use patterns and related behavior between rural blacks and whites were examined. Questionnaires were administered to 993 (369 black and 624 white) rural adolescents in grades 7-12 in randomly selected schools in Texas. The instrument totaled 15 pages containing 65 items which yielded 178 quantifiable variables. Of the 178 variables, 134 directly dealt with various aspects of drug use and yielded 6 operational categories: respondent's use, peer use, parental use, peer influence, parental influence, and drug acquisition and dealing. The remaining 44 variables centered around measures of the respondents' biography, indicants of parental marital and socioeconomic status, various measures of religious membership and participation, career aspiration, death attitudes, delinquent activities and television viewing practices. Findings included: whites reported substantially greater use of "liquor" than did blacks; females reported greater use of "uppers" and "downers" than did males; adolescents from single-parent households were more likely to use all drugs than in households where both parents were living; for all drugs, adolescents reporting "positive" relationships with their mother and father were less likely to use than those with less favorable relationships; drug use increased with grade level; and while blacks were found to be less likely to use drugs on the whole, they were found to be more likely to sell drugs for more money than whites. (NQ)