TY - JOUR
T1 - Drugs on the web; the Psychonaut 2002 EU project
AU - Schifano, Fabrizio
AU - Deluca, Paolo
AU - Baldacchino, Alex
AU - Peltoniemi, Teuvo
AU - Scherbaum, Norbert
AU - Torrens, Marta
AU - Farrě, Magi
AU - Flores, Irene
AU - Rossi, Mariangela
AU - Eastwood, Dorte
AU - Guionnet, Claude
AU - Rawaf, Salman
AU - Agosti, Lisa
AU - Di Furia, Lucia
AU - Brigada, Raffaella
AU - Majava, Aino
AU - Siemann, Holger
AU - Leoni, Mauro
AU - Tomasin, Antonella
AU - Rovetto, Francesco
AU - Ghodse, A. Hamid
AU - on behalf of the Psychonaut 2002 research group
PY - 2006/6
Y1 - 2006/6
N2 - Purpose: Only a few formal assessments of websites with drug-related contents have been carried out. We aimed here at fostering collection and analysis of data from web pages related to information on consumption, manufacture and sales of psychoactive substances. General methods: An 8-language, two-engine, assessment of the information available in a purposeful sample of 1633 unique websites was carried out. Findings: A pro-drug and a harm reduction approach were evident, respectively, in 18% and 10% of websites accessed. About 1 in 10 websites offered either psychoactive compounds for sale or detailed data on drugs' synthesis/extraction procedures. Information on a number of psychoactive substances and on unusual drugs' combinations not found in the Medline was elicited. Conclusions: This represents the first review which is both comprehensive and multilingual of the online available information on psychoactive compounds. Health professionals may need to be aware of the web being a new drug resource for information and possibly purchase.
AB - Purpose: Only a few formal assessments of websites with drug-related contents have been carried out. We aimed here at fostering collection and analysis of data from web pages related to information on consumption, manufacture and sales of psychoactive substances. General methods: An 8-language, two-engine, assessment of the information available in a purposeful sample of 1633 unique websites was carried out. Findings: A pro-drug and a harm reduction approach were evident, respectively, in 18% and 10% of websites accessed. About 1 in 10 websites offered either psychoactive compounds for sale or detailed data on drugs' synthesis/extraction procedures. Information on a number of psychoactive substances and on unusual drugs' combinations not found in the Medline was elicited. Conclusions: This represents the first review which is both comprehensive and multilingual of the online available information on psychoactive compounds. Health professionals may need to be aware of the web being a new drug resource for information and possibly purchase.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33646703358&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2005.11.035
DO - 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2005.11.035
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33646703358
SN - 0278-5846
VL - 30
SP - 640
EP - 646
JO - Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
JF - Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
IS - 4
ER -