Addiction in the age of Internet the case of e-drugs

Objectives: The subject of the article are reflections on the issue of addiction in the XXIst century on the example of e-drugs. This is a relatively new type of threat. It affects young people who often use the Internet and are permanently online. E-drugs gained particular popularity in 2008-2010. The people who are currently in the 20-30 age range could be exposed to these resources at that time. Therefore, it was decided to determine what is the level of knowledge about e-drugs among young people in Poland, what are the experiences of the respondents regarding the use of psychoactive substances. Material and methods: The research was carried out using the author’s survey, which was made available through an interactive Google survey. The responses of 102 respondents were included in the final analysis, including 54 men and 48 women (M = 22,3) living in the Lubelskie Voivodeship. Results: More than half (53%) visited websites where can use e-drugs, 43% have used them, including 20% more than once. E-drugs are considered the least dangerous in terms of the possibility of addiction, compared to other. The average value given to e-drugs is 7.3 out of 12. On the other hand, alcohol (9), heroin (8.3), gambling (8.3) and computer games (8.3) were considered the most dangerous measures. Conclusions: This work has a theoretical and practical dimension, because in addition to theories own research and practical implications will be presented.