“Most of the Time You Already Know”: Pharmaceutical Information Assembly by Young Adults on the Internet

Abstract

This study examined the utilization of the Internet by young adults as a source of information for the misuse of prescription drugs. Collected during 2008–2009, the data presented here comes from semistructured interviews (N = 62) conducted in a northwestern city of the United States through support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Previous studies characterize young adults as particularly vulnerable to online prescription drug information that analysts portray as having a significant, invariably detrimental, impact on youth drug use behaviors. The results presented here suggest that young adults are more skeptical and information savvy than many substance abuse analysts acknowledge. In addition, knowledge and experiences generated from legitimate medical uses of pharmaceuticals influence individuals’ information assessment and evaluation practices employed in the nonmedical misuse of prescription drugs.

Keywords :

• young adults
• prescription drug misuse
• the Internet
• online drug information
• risk assessment

THE AUTHORS

Gilbert Quintero, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Montana. His research focuses on social and cultural aspects of drug use and misuse in several different populations, including Native American and Hispanic groups in the Southwest as well as young adult college students in the United States. His current interests include the integration of information and communication technologies into social interactions and drug use practices among young adults in collegiate environments and the socio-recreational use of pharmaceuticals. He received his Masters in applied anthropology from the Northern Arizona University in 1992 and a doctorate in cultural anthropology from the University of Arizona in 1997.

Henry Bundy, MA, is currently a Fulbright student affiliated with the Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands. He did his undergraduate work in anthropology at the Eastern Kentucky University and received his master's degree, also in anthropology, from the University of Montana in 2010. His research interests include Appalachian health care and social justice. He will begin working on his Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky in the fall.