A survey of adult recreational drug use via the World Wide Web: the DRUGNET study

DRUGNET was a cross-sectional survey of adult recreational drug users (i.e., not abusers) via the World Wide Web of the Internet. The purpose of this survey was to provide a unique, broad description of nondeviant adult recreational drug users. The survey instrument had four divisions: demographic and lifestyle indices, drug use history, legal history and attitudes about drug issues, and the General Well-being Schedule (GWBS). Responses were received from 1,473 self-identified drug users. Of these, 567 completed only the first section, leaving 906 respondents who completed the entire survey. The typical respondent was a White male who was well educated, employed full-time, a participant in recreational and community activities, and who described his physical health status as good. Their mental health, as measured by the GWBS, was similar to the general adult U.S. population. Their drug-taking behavior appeared to be well-controlled, at mild to moderate levels in both frequency of use and degree of intoxication. These findings have major implications for drug policy and indicate the need for further research on the majority of drug users, who may be expected to resemble this sample more than they do clinical populations of drug abusers.