Real Drugs in a Virtual World: Drug Discourse and Community Online

(Paperback)

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Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded research project on drug information and online drug-related communities. The editors of this pivotal text, Edward Murguia, Ann Lessem, and Melissa Tackett-Gibson, elevate the debate about drug use and the Internet from a polemic discourse to social scientific investigation. The essays confront issues related to the study of drug communication online, including the causal factors of abuse as discussed in online forums, the relationship between music and drug use in virtual communities, and the ways in which individuals assess the accuracy of online drug information. This book highlights the variety of ways to examine drug use as a social problem and presents several theoretical perspectives valuable to online research. Real Drugs in a Virtual World is an enlightening and thought provoking read that will appeal to sociology students and those interested in virtual communities.

Reviews

Murguia, Tucker-Gibson and Lessum apply cutting-edge cyber ethnographic methods towards an understanding of new patterns of drug use, acquisition and community in the Twenty-First Century. A must read for those interested in how access and use of online internet technologies shape social and personal life and influence the social construction of reality among these emerging drug subcultures. -- Avelardo Valdez, professor of social work, University of Houston
Online drug information websites, listservs and chat rooms all play a crucial role in how young people obtain and share knowledge and experience about illicit drugs. Until now few researchers have focused on this topic. Murguia, Tackett-Gibson and Lessem's book, Real drugs in a Virtual World, opens up this new area of research. The essays explore not only the role of the internet in providing information on illicit drugs but also the range and variety of topics discussed by the young people themselves. The publication of this book will hopefully encourage other drug researchers to focus more specifically on the role of the Internet in the world of illicit drugs. -- Geoffrey Hunt, Senior Scientist, Institute for Scientific Analysis

Author Bio

Edward Murguia is associate professor of sociology at Texas A&M University. Ann Lessem is assistant research scientist at the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University. Melissa Tackett-Gibson is assistant research scientist at the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University.