I hate to be the one point this out, but my drug consumption, aside from beer, has declined over time as my internet connection has speeded up.
Prescription medication, or the abuse thereof, has increased because the current pain management models in the health care system have been employed in conjunction with introduction of easily transferable pain medication that is better than heroin and equally cost-effective and desirable to the delivery system and the end-user along with lax oversight and promotion by the drug manufacturers. For example, back in the day, it was a huge pain in the ass to find and acquire, through healthcare professionals, high-dose codeine in pill form yet today Oxycontin can be had everywhere for cheap.
In other words, someone is blaming the use of the internet to acquire prescription drugs instead of blaming the drug manufacturers and the doctors that dispense said medications to the general population as an easy cure-all.
What I'm saying is that the research team pulled their hypothesis out of their collective asses.
It's like blaming TV because people want to take Viagra. No mention that the Viagra actually works wonders, in many senses, for someone suffering from ED or in this case, a readily available opioid in pill form dispensed by a credible source that does exactly what it is designed to do.
> since it is well known that these drugs are easily available online
whenever a researcher uses the phrase "since it is well known", one should automatically discount their work.
What is well known, or should be by both authors, is that these drugs are easily available at hospitals (A. B. Jena) and pharmacies (D. P. Goldman).
Prescription medication, or the abuse thereof, has increased because the current pain management models in the health care system have been employed in conjunction with introduction of easily transferable pain medication that is better than heroin and equally cost-effective and desirable to the delivery system and the end-user along with lax oversight and promotion by the drug manufacturers. For example, back in the day, it was a huge pain in the ass to find and acquire, through healthcare professionals, high-dose codeine in pill form yet today Oxycontin can be had everywhere for cheap.
In other words, someone is blaming the use of the internet to acquire prescription drugs instead of blaming the drug manufacturers and the doctors that dispense said medications to the general population as an easy cure-all.