Writing-up [UK] PhD Research on Drug knowledge and Preference

A

ARUResearcher

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Nov 18, 2013
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Hi,

I am a PhD Student at Anglia Ruskin University interested in the general populations of the United Kingdoms knowledge and attitudes towards drugs. I am also looking at the preference of selected synthetic drugs compared to others, with a focus on MDMA.

What my surveys are trying to establish is; what do people understand about the drug MDMA in relation to other drugs and what impact have NPS had on its popularity.

I am looking to recruit UK Residents over 18 for my online anonymous surveys as part of my on going PhD Research.

There are two surveys, the first looking at knowledge and information sources; what do people know about drugs and the legal system of Britain, are they aware of the different names associated with drugs and who do people trust to provide information about drugs. The purpose of this survey is to identify where there is a need for better education in the field of drugs.

The second survey is looking at the preference of selected synthetic drugs, do users have a preference for one substance over another? What are the reasons for this and what impact have the 'legal' highs/NPS's had on the drug ecstasy.

The surveys take around 10 minutes each and are hosted through Google chrome. I decided to recruit from this website to get a representable sample from within the community.

Thank you for your Time

Links

Survey A Knowledge & Awareness) http://t.co/uCJUOcG1cs

Survey B Popularity and Preference: http://t.co/AqsYzTxai9

Contact Details
Researcher: Alexandra Turner
Institution: Anglia Ruskin University
Email: [email protected]
Alternate Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @AlexLTurner
Exclusion Criteria: Must be UK resident and over 18 years of age
No Costs or reimbursements (sorry)
Approx. time per survey: 10 minutes

The research received ethical clearance by the ALSS faculty of Anglia Ruskin University, in November 2012.Research started in January 2013 and is running until the end of December.
The overall PhD project is cross-disciplinary looking at the social aspects of drugs in comparison to the chemical analysis of street level substances, it is half social and half analytical science.
 
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Quote from the participant info sheet of Part A:

Anglia Ruskin Drug Survey Part A) Knowledge and Awareness

The purpose of this piece of research is to investigate the awareness the general public has regarding drugs, drug names and the information sources available. It is necessary for the purposes of this research that you are either a national or a resident of Great Britain as we are only looking at British legislation and society. We also ask that you be at least 18 years old to participate in this research. About the research This research is a project of two parts, firstly to investigate the current state of the public knowledge and awareness of drugs; it will be looking at information sources and the perceptions around the accuracy of the information available. The second part is an analysis of which drugs people admit to taking and examining whether there is a preference for specific drugs. This is then to be related to seizure data collected from collaborating police stations to see whether there is a correlation between what people like and levels found on the street. This research will give an insight into links between user preference and street drug seizure trends. Consent By ticking the box at the beginning of the survey and filling out and submitting your responses you are authorising the author of the survey to use the information you provide for the purposes of this research. At no point will any personal information be required past a general location, age and gender. The researcher will not contact you directly about your responses and no information will be stored that will enable the researcher or third parties to identify participants. Due to the nature of the data collection you will be unable to withdraw your responses once you have clicked on the final submission button at the end of the survey. However if you close the webpage at any point before submitting your responses they will not be stored. If you wish to contact the researcher please e-mail: [email protected]
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for posting your research. Here at Drug Studies we have some guidelines about what information we require that you post, see http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/345977-Forum-Guidelines

Can you please revise your post to include this information? e.g. your name, contact details that will last beyond the study timeframe, an idea of the study timeframe, etc.

Thanks :)
 
Hi,

Sorry i only just came across your website and may have been overly enthusiastic yesterday, i hope my revised post now meets the requirements.

Alex
 
I tried to do it but the site is blocked in school at the moment. Posting here so I have a reminder to do it when I go home.
 
Hi,

Thank you for the interest, there have been some difficulties with certain browsers unfortunately. It definitely works with chrome however.
 
Oh no it wasn't the browser's problem. My school just blocks a lot of sites. Most schools in Northern Ireland use a shitty proxy service called C2K, they even have Google blocked...

I'll get onto doing this now. :)

EDIT: I'd like to mention that you state nitrogen gas as a legal high. Nitrogen gas is all around us, pretty big part of the air we breath. I'm sure you're probably thinking of Nitrous Oxide.
 
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That's perfect, thanks for the extra info and good luck with the study.
 
Dear Readers of Bluelight,

In a shameless act of self promotion for my surveys and to generate interest and all that, I was just wondering whether you consider MDMA (powder/crystals) as being a separate 'product' from the traditional ecstasy pill?

Just a curious researcher
 
ARUResearcher said:
Dear Readers of Bluelight,

In a shameless act of self promotion for my surveys and to generate interest and all that, I was just wondering whether you consider MDMA (powder/crystals) as being a separate 'product' from the traditional ecstasy pill?

Just a curious researcher
Click to expand...

From a marketting sense - yes. But regarding the desired drug (MDMA), absolutely not. Ecstasy pills and 'MDMA powder' can both be different chemicals/combinations of MDMA + X random drug (usually caffeine, amp but could be anything). However, ecstasy pills are poorer quality, especially here in the UK. The point is, nobody buys an ecstasy pill wanting to consume some random drug (or at least most do not), we want MDMA. Just like we want our MDMA crystals to be just that - MDMA. Damn illegality makes it all so hard to know what you're actually taking.
 
Your use of the word 'marketing' is very interesting to me, part of my thesis is looking at the re-branding of ecstasy, specifically in the UK. As you say the quality of pills is very poor, yet there is little to no analytical data to prove that the crystalline forms are actually any better, aside from anecdotal evidence from users.

Aside from being a sociologist examining social perceptions of drugs, I am also a analytical chemist looking at the differences in the chemical composition.
 
ARUResearcher said:
Your use of the word 'marketing' is very interesting to me, part of my thesis is looking at the re-branding of ecstasy, specifically in the UK. As you say the quality of pills is very poor, yet there is little to no analytical data to prove that the crystalline forms are actually any better, aside from anecdotal evidence from users.

Aside from being a sociologist examining social perceptions of drugs, I am also a analytical chemist looking at the differences in the chemical composition.
Click to expand...

From a marketting sense, the term 'Ecstasy' would need to be revised completely. It has such a negative connotation in today's society. This is the reason why I prefer to refer to it as 'MDMA'. The only reason I comment on the quality of crystals is because i've yet to test a bad batch of crystal and never actually seen anything other than MDMA being sold in crystal form (in the UK). Whereas I've tested pills that i've no idea what was even in them (they didn't even react with the reagent).

It's certainly an interesting area, the sociology of drugs is fascinating.
 
Hope I'm not too late, have just submitted my answers to both surveys.

Best of luck with your PhD!
 
ARUResearcher said:
I decided to recruit from this website to get a representable sample from within the community.
Click to expand...

Ok, no, it's not a representative sample. For that you would have to:

- ask bluelight
- ask people in clubs, bars and do streets in at least 4 or 5 towns.
- ask in rehabs

On Bluelight you find the elite of drug users, it's in no way representative. You assume all drug users have internet access and a comfy home from which they can fill your surveys and do extensive research on drugs. When you defend your theses this is the first question that will come up. No way they'll let it pass.

The best thing you can say by drawing a bluelight population sample is that the top 10% elite thinks this or that. You can't say it's a representative sample. I can name 10s of blue-light users including myself who could write a 1,000 pages encyclopedia on each and every type of drug out there. And I mean reaction rates, activity, binding site, induced fit, synapses, pushed science really.

Seriously, I wrote 1,000s of lines programs in Java on how to extract substances, for example:

Code: 
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import java.text.*;
public class Tylenol
{
  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
    DecimalFormat a = new DecimalFormat(".00");
    Date date = new Date();
    double n = 1;
    do{
      try{
        System.out.println("    _/    _/    _/_/_/    _/_/    ");
        System.out.println("   _/  _/    _/        _/    _/   ");
        System.out.println("  _/_/        _/_/    _/_/_/_/    ");
        System.out.println(" _/  _/          _/  _/    _/     ");
        System.out.println("_/    _/  _/_/_/    _/    _/      ");
        System.out.println(date.toString()+"\n");
        System.out.println("Welcome to Ksa's disolved acetaminophen calculator!\n");
        System.out.println("WARNING: This program outputs toxicity information for acetaminophen only.");
        System.out.println("         Daily use of acetaminophen can be hazardous regardless of output.");
        System.out.println("");
        System.out.println("Select a topic and press enter:");
        System.out.println("");
        System.out.println("1. Check if a solution has safe amounts of disolved acetaminophen.");
        System.out.println("2. Give me the acetaminophen water solubility value for a certain temperature.");
        System.out.println("3. Exit");
        Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
        double entry = input.nextDouble();
        n = 2;
        if(entry==1)
        {
          Scanner input3 = new Scanner(System.in);
          System.out.println("");
          System.out.println("Enter solution temperature before filtration:");
          double temperature = input3.nextDouble();
          if(temperature < 0)
          {
            System.out.println("Water freezes at zero degrees celsius.(Invalid value)");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input4 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input4.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          System.out.println("");
          System.out.println("Enter amount of pills:");
          double pills = input.nextDouble();
          if(pills < 0)
          {
            System.out.println("Invalid entry.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input4 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input4.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          System.out.println("");
          System.out.println("Enter acetaminophen content of one pill, in miligrams (mg):");
          double apap = input.nextDouble();
          if(apap < 0)
          {
            System.out.println("Invalid entry.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input4 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input4.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          System.out.println("");
          System.out.println("Enter the total water volume, in millilitres (mL):");
          double water = input.nextDouble();
          if(water < 0)
          {
            System.out.println("Invalid entry.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input4 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input4.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          double solubility = (0.0006*Math.pow(temperature,2) + 0.0165*temperature + 0.7221)*10;
          double intake = pills*apap;
          double intake2 = water*solubility;
          if(temperature > 50)
          {
            System.out.println("Your temperature is unsafe and may result in high amounts of disolved acetaminophen.\n Please lower the temperature below 50 degrees Celsius.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input4 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input4.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          if(pills > 50)
          {
            System.out.println("You have entered "+ pills+" pills. That may be unsafe for other reasons.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input5 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input5.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          if(pills*apap < water*solubility && pills*apap>8000)
          {
            System.out.println("The solution contains "+ a.format(intake/1000)+ " g of disolved acetaminophen.");
            System.out.println("Ingestion can result in fatal acetaminophen overdose.");
            System.out.println("Death occurs aproximatly 8 hours after ingestion if no antidote is provided.");
            System.out.println("Reason of death: Liver failure.");
            System.out.println("Using "+ 2.5*pills+" mL of water instead of "+water+" mL should render the solution safe to ingest.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input6 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input6.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          else if(pills*apap >= water*solubility && water*solubility>8000)
          {
            System.out.println("The solution contains "+ a.format(intake2/1000)+ " g of disolved acetaminophen.");
            System.out.println("Ingestion can result in fatal acetaminophen overdose.");
            System.out.println("Death occurs aproximatly 8 hours after ingestion if no antidote is provided.");
            System.out.println("Reason of death: Liver failure.");
            System.out.println("Using "+ a.format(2.5*pills)+" mL of water instead of "+a.format(water)+" mL should render the solution safe to ingest.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input7 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input7.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          else if(pills*apap < water*solubility && pills*apap>2000)
          {
            System.out.println("The solution contains "+ a.format(intake/1000)+ " g of disolved acetaminophen.");
            System.out.println("Ingestion is hazardous and can result in permanent liver damage.");
            System.out.println("Using "+ a.format(2.5*pills)+" mL of water instead of "+a.format(water)+" mL should render the solution safe to ingest.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input8 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input8.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          else if(pills*apap >= water*solubility && water*solubility>2000)
          {
            System.out.println("The solution contains "+ a.format(intake2/1000)+ " g of disolved acetaminophen.");
            System.out.println("Ingestion is hazardous and can result in permanent liver damage.");
            System.out.println("Using "+ a.format(2.5*pills)+" mL of water instead of "+a.format(water)+" mL should render the solution safe to ingest.");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input9 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input9.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          else{
            System.out.println(pills*apap < water*solubility ? "The solution contains "+a.format(intake/1000)+ " g of disolved acetaminophen." : "The solution contains "+a.format(intake2/1000)+ " g of disolved acetaminophen.");
            System.out.println("Ingesting the solution is safe occasionally, given it only contains water and acetaminophen ");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input9 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input9.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
        }
        else if(entry==2)
        {
          System.out.println("");
          System.out.println("Enter water temperature in degrees Celsius from 0 to 100C:");
          Scanner input2 = new Scanner(System.in);
          double temperature = input2.nextDouble();
          if(temperature < 0)
          {
            System.out.println("Water freezes at zero degrees Celsius(Invalid value)");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input4 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input4.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          else if(temperature > 100)
          {
            System.out.println("Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. (Invalid value)");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input4 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input4.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
          else{
            double solubility = 0.0006*Math.pow(temperature,2) + 0.0165*temperature + 0.7221;
            System.out.println("The solubility of acetaminophen in water at "+temperature+" degrees Celsius is "+a.format(solubility)+"g/100mL");
            System.out.println("Press Enter to abord.");
            Scanner input9 = new Scanner(System.in);
            String entrya = input9.nextLine();
            System.exit(0);
          }
        }
        else{System.exit(0);}
      }
      catch(Exception e){
        System.out.println("");
        System.out.println("Invalid entry. Please try again.\n");
      }
    }while(n==1);
  }
}

And this is nothing compared to what other users/moderators did for the community.
 
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Hi,
I understand your point about it not being representative and that was probably the wrong word to use. My research isn't on drug users, its drugs in society which is a subtle difference. What I am examining is the knowledge of the British public, which includes the drug using community. I am also interested in the personal preference of MDMA over other select substances, this is why I have advertised on this website to ensure I had access to a confirmed users and that they were represented in the study. If you look at any general population surveys confirmed drug use is relatively low but as you have pointed out they have the most knowledge.

My research is focusing on the importance of drugs education more than anything.
 
ARUResearcher said:
Hi,
I understand your point about it not being representative and that was probably the wrong word to use. My research isn't on drug users, its drugs in society which is a subtle difference. What I am examining is the knowledge of the British public, which includes the drug using community. I am also interested in the personal preference of MDMA over other select substances, this is why I have advertised on this website to ensure I had access to a confirmed users and that they were represented in the study. If you look at any general population surveys confirmed drug use is relatively low but as you have pointed out they have the most knowledge.

My research is focusing on the importance of drugs education more than anything.
Click to expand...

That's even worst mam. The vast majority of bluelighters have already used many drugs and are all open minded with respect to drugs.

Society, are the people watching CNN laughing at reports of Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. People on Bluelight are educated, un-biased with respect to drugs, and do not use CNN to build an image of drugs: They do proper research. I will help you illustrate the difference between what people on bluelight think about drugs and what society in general thinks, and if I am wrong people are free to come here and argue:

Bluelight Community:

- Using drugs is like any dangerous occupation, like an electrician working in an electrical room: With knowledge and wisdom, one can remain safe.

Society:

- Drugs are poison that gives people good dreams and then kills them, regardless of their knowledge. Only irresponsible/stupid people engage in drug use.

Bluelight Community:

- Drug use is a result of people wanting to diversify their life experiences and try something new.

Society:

- Drug use occurs with people who either have it all and who have exhausted other means of having fun, or with those who have nothing to lose and kill themselves.
 
Ksa said:
That's even worst mam. The vast majority of bluelighters have already used many drugs and are all open minded with respect to drugs.

Society, are the people watching CNN laughing at reports of Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. People on Bluelight are educated, un-biased with respect to drugs, and do not use CNN to build an image of drugs: They do proper research. I will help you illustrate the difference between what people on bluelight think about drugs and what society in general thinks, and if I am wrong people are free to come here and argue:

Bluelight Community:

- Using drugs is like any dangerous occupation, like an electrician working in an electrical room: With knowledge and wisdom, one can remain safe.

Society:

- Drugs are poison that gives people good dreams and then kills them, regardless of their knowledge. Only irresponsible/stupid people engage in drug use.

Bluelight Community:

- Drug use is a result of people wanting to diversify their life experiences and try something new.

Society:

- Drug use occurs with people who either have it all and who have exhausted other means of having fun, or with those who have nothing to lose and kill themselves.
Click to expand...

At no point did he say he was ignoring other parts of society. I'm unsure why you're drawing the conclusion that we are the only people he's advertised to. He specifically said
What I am examining is the knowledge of the British public, which includes the drug using community.
Click to expand...
. That looks like he's including the general public, and drug users, if you ask me. Give him a break, I'm sure he gets enough slack trying to research drugs as it is. Anything slightly out of line with the Government's propaganda and you're shot down.
 
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