The increase in access to the Internet could be contributing to the prescription drug abuse epidemic this country is facing, according to a new Health Affairs report.

The study released Thursday shows that a 10 percent increase in the availability of high-speed Internet service in a state was associated with an approximately 1 percent increase in admissions to a treatment facility center for prescription drug abuse. The number of U.S. households with Internet access increased from 18 percent in 1997 to 61 percent in 2007.

To test the impact of wider Internet use on the frequency of substance abuse, the authors measured Internet penetration across states between 2000 and 2007 using publicly available information from the Federal Communications Commission high-speed Internet deployment database. They compared that to data on treatment admissions to substance abuse programs in the United States during the same time period, culled from the Treatment Episode Data Set, maintained by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

From 2000 to 2007 states with higher Internet growth experienced comparable increases in admission to substance abuse treatment facilities. During the same time period, admissions for abuse of alcohol, cocaine, and heroin, which are not readily purchased online, had minimal or negative growth.

"Our work raises the possibility that the observed growth in U.S. prescription drug abuse may partially stem from wider Internet availability through online pharmacies that sell prescription drugs illegally," note the authors. "Our findings provide a first glimpse that growing Internet use may partially explain why U.S. prescription drug abuse rates have risen dramatically while other substance abuse rates have not. Based on our findings, recent efforts by the Food and Drug Administration to shut down illegitimate pharmacies not only seem warranted but may also lead to substantial reductions in prescription drug abuse."

The report Growing Internet Use May Help Explain The Rise In Prescription Drug Abuse In The United States By Anupam B. Jena and Dana P. Goldman is available here.