The influence of viewing a headline about ecstasy/Molly adulteration on future intentions to use

ABSTRACT

Background: Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA]), commonly referred to as Molly in the US, is commonly adulterated with drugs potentially more dangerous than MDMA. Synthetic cathinones (“bath salts”) are common adulterants, and use of these compounds tends to be stigmatized. We investigated whether presenting information on the extent of ecstasy being adulterated with “bath salts” affects intentions to use.

Methods: A total of 1,025 adults entering electronic dance music parties were surveyed in 2018. Using an experimental posttest-only design with random assignment, half were randomly assigned to view a published Vice headline about ecstasy/Molly commonly being adulterated with “bath salts.”

Results: Overall, 30.5% of the sample reported past-year ecstasy use, and before viewing the headline, 16.4% agreed that ecstasy/Molly commonly contains “bath salts.” While controlling for pre-test knowledge of “bath salt” adulteration, viewing the headline reduced the odds of intention to use ecstasy/Molly only among non-past-year ecstasy users (Odd ratio [OR] = 0.54; p = .048). Viewing the headline increased the odds (OR = 1.81, p = .030) of past-year ecstasy users’ intention to test their ecstasy for adulterants.

Conclusions: Knowledge that ecstasy is commonly adulterated may help reduce the risk for future use among non-recent users and increase the willingness of users to test their ecstasy. This information can be used to target those at risk for ecstasy/Molly use.

KEYWORDS:

• Ecstasy
• synthetic cathinones
• drug education
• harm reduction

Acknowledgments

The research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers K01DA038800 (PI: Palamar), R01DA044207 (PI: Palamar), and P30DA011041 (PI: Deren). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors would like to thank Vice for their permission to present a screenshot of their headline in our survey.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [K01DA038800, P30DA011041, R01DA044207].