Searching the Internet for drug-related web sites: analysis of online available information on ecstasy (MDMA)

Although the Internet is a growing source of information on MDMA/ecstasy, no studies so far have investigated the level and quality of ecstasy information available to the typical Web user. In the present study, 280 Web sites were identified and analyzed; 50.4% had an anti-drug approach, 16.2% a harm reduction approach, and 24.8% a pro-drug approach. MDMA pro-drug Web sites appeared significantly earlier in the search engines' results list than both anti-drug and harm reduction Web sites (F (3; 159) = 3.288; p = .022). This study represents the first systematic analysis of information available online on ecstasy. Implications for further research are discussed.