Web Sites with Misinformation about Illicit Drugs

Abstract

As part of our research on the relation between the Internet and substance abuse, we have identified several Web sites that promulgate information about illicit drugs. These “partisan” Web sites are easily identified by common search engines if one uses the names of illicit substances as search terms.¹ With some pages viewed more than 160,000 times per day, partisan sites appear to be effective in reaching adolescents and young adults. In a recent study, 24 percent of college students used the Internet to obtain information on illicit substances, and 27 percent of Internet-using college students reported that Internet use increased the likelihood that they would use drugs.²