I was driven to do research because I had a sneaking suspicion that my DARE officer was lying to us back in primary school when he said drugs will kill you instantaneously (okay, that's an exaggeration, but not much of one.) Once I reached an age where I felt comfortable enough in my normal state of mind to enter an altered one, I began to do research on various substances.
I heard about ecstasy from some friends and was hesitant to try it because of the 'holes in brain' scare-stories, but was curious enough to look it up on Erowid. That snowballed into months of research, and I finally agreed to do it with my girlfriend (it was her idea initially, but she wanted time to research as well) We researched local pills on Pillreports, found one that seemed to have consistent reports, borrowed a test kit from a friend, found that they tested clean, and went for it. I'm happy I did.
I feel very dorky for the amount of research I do on drugs (it's almost a hobby; i like looking at experience reports and whatnot) but I'm glad I did. I stopped a friend from taking it because he was taking antidepressants for stress, and convinced another friend not to do it because he was a bit... unstable.
I'm such a cautious person in general, it shocks me when people just take something without really understanding what it does. I carefully research each pill I take and I very rarely do the drug at all to ensure that I minimize my risk for emotional problems and brain damage. I try to pass on info to my friends and acquaintances when I can to help keep everybody safe; I feel it is part of my responsibility as an educated individual to help educate others.
So, people, spread the knowledge! I don't want to hear about LSD/Coke/Heroin laced pills, double/triple/quad stacks, brand names or other general E stupidity.