Or maybe logistics are so much better now that even illegal drugs are more accessible and cheaper than before.

That's probably true; but rural areas had alcohol problems before they had drug ones.

And they've always had poverty problems. The underlying point is that I'm sure we cannot boil down substance abuse problems to simple boredom.

Absolutely agreed there! The drug problem in the countryside is new -- really new, 20 years old at the most -- so it must be due to something that's happened really recently.

And alcohol can be coexisted with more easily than hard drugs can. "Meth: Not Even Once" is no exaggeration, but no one in the West except recovering alcoholics has that slogan for drinking.