Students responded to questionnaires devised for use in the National Adolescent Student Health survey dealing with perceptions of illegal drug use among friends, lifetime illegal drug use, and measure of drug information received from close friends. Multiple regression analysis using composite perception variables of grade, gender, perceived drug use among friends, and the amount of drug information about drugs students reported received from their friends, explained 39 percent of the variance in the amount of drug use reported by students. These variables accurately classified 69 percent of the drug users and 81 percent of the non-users in the discriminant analysis. Furthermore, an item-specific analysis of 15 subcomponents of these composite variables explained 44 percent of the variance in the degree to which rural adolescents were involved in drug use. The key finding of this study was that the students who perceived a high use of drugs among their friends and who received more information about drugs from their friends were apt to use drugs more frequently. The lower perceived and actual use of marijuana by rural areas students may protect them from a broader pattern of drug use. 4 tables and 19 references (Author abstract modified)