Researchers at the Wright State University School of Medicine in Dayton queried recent Ecstasy users from central Ohio on their perceptions of the importance and accuracy of various sources of information about the drug.
Results from interviews with 304 young adult users, aged 18 to 30 years old, indicated that friends were considered the most important source of information about Ecstasy, followed by websites like DanceSafe.org, and MTV/VH1 television specials.
"One-half of the participants used the Internet to access information. Non-government websites were visited by four times as many individuals as were government sites," the authors reported. "Younger and more educated users were most likely to access the Internet for information about Ecstasy.
Parents Least Trusted
"Friends, drug abuse treatment programs, and physicians were seen as the top three sources in terms of accuracy although the latter two were utilized infrequently. Parents, mainstream newspapers and radio were considered the least accurate sources of information," the report said.The researchers -- Russel Falck, Robert Carlson, Jichuan Wang and Harvey Siegal -- hope the findings from this study provide insight into preventing Ecstasy use and reducing associated morbidity among young people.
Source: The study, Sources of information about MDMA: Perceived accuracy, importance, and implications for prevention among young adult users was published in the April 2004 issue of Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
