Internet and social networking sites play a significant role
in the marketing and distribution of recreational/prescription drugs without
restrictions. We aimed here at reviewing data relating to the profile of the
online drug customer and at describing drug vending websites.
The PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases were
searched here in order to elicit data on the socio-demographic characteristics
of the recreational marketplaces/online pharmacies' customers and the
determinants relating to online drug purchasing activities.
Typical online recreational drugs' customers seem to be
Caucasian, men, in their 20s, highly educated, and using the web to impact as
minimally as possible on their existing work/professional status. Conversely,
people without any health insurance seemed to look at the web as a source of
more affordable prescription medicines. Drug vending websites are typically
presented here with a "no prescription required" approach, together
with aggressive marketing strategies.
The online availability of recreational/prescriptions drugs
remains a public health concern. A more precise understanding of online vending
sites' customers may well facilitate the drafting and implementation of proper
prevention campaigns aimed at counteracting the increasing levels of online
drug acquisition and hence intake activities
- 1United Hospitals, Academic Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
- 2School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts, England.
- 3Medical School of Trieste, Italy.
- 4School of Medicine and Surgery, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
- 5FRCPsych, Chair in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Herts, England.
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