The need for more research is especially urgent in light of the recent increase in nonmedical use of prescription drugs among college students. My experience hearing students nonchalantly discuss their use of prescription stimulants in the cafeteria seemed only to confirm that this behavior is increasingly common. This casual attitude, combined with the university administration’s lack of response, seems to indicate that a risky, possibly unhealthy practice is not getting the attention it warrants on college campuses. Links between nonmedical use of prescription drugs and factors like substance abuse and perceived harmfulness provide useful information but do not identify the root cause of the behavior. Social learning theory has been shown to partially account for it. However, no research yet fully explains how the atmosphere of acceptance and tolerance of nonmedical use of prescription drugs is created. Considering the incompleteness of these theories as explanations, the possible role of the media is one of many factors that merits further exploration. 

Simply because a certain technology is available does not always mean it should be implemented. As citizens of the 21st century, we are constantly encountering new technology, in the medical field especially, and we are constantly wrangling with the ethics of such technologies. Predictive genetic testing is an issue that may become vital in many aspects of our society, such as policy, insurance, and medicine, and if we continue to think about these issues in binary terms, we run the risk of making enormously uninformed decisions. An approach to genetic testing that takes into consideration all of the possible impacts, not just on the patients themselves but on current and future family members, will present the greatest probability of success, whether that refers to a patient coping with a condition or a doctor figuring out an approach to tackling it.