A new questionnaire, the New Psychoactive Substance Use Motives Measure (NPSMM), was developed and validated across six EU countries with 3,023 users from three subgroups: socially marginalized individuals, nightlife attendees, and online community members. Factor analysis revealed five consistent motives for using new psychoactive substances: coping, enhancement, social, conformity, and expansion. Motives varied by user group: marginalized users scored higher on coping and conformity, nightlife groups on social motives, and online community users on expansion motives. Different types of NPS were linked to different motives—expansion with psychedelics and enhancement with stimulants—while coping, social, and conformity motives were more tied to user groups. The NPSMM is a valid tool for measuring these motives.
Dissociative novel psychoactive substances like methoxetamine, 3-MeO-PCP, and methoxphenidine are used as substitutes for illicit ketamine. An analysis of 90 user trip reports and 115 forum threads from seven drug fora, drawn from 3,476 screened threads, revealed five themes and 43 categories describing how online communities share communal folk pharmacology—perceptions of risk, informed knowledge, and indigenous harm-reduction practices. The findings suggest that forum activity disseminates and exchanges harm-reduction tactics among users. Further monitoring of Internet drug fora is recommended to explore variations in these practices and to inform public online health education and drug prevention.
Methoxphenidine (MXP), an NMDA antagonist marketed in 2013 as a legal replacement for methoxetamine (MXE), diphenidine, and ketamine, produces a dissociative and stimulant wave that can last for days. Analysis of seven self-reported experiences and 28 thread discussions from public Internet fora, using the Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method, identified five themes and 61 categories. Acute side-effects include hypertension and seizures; chronic effects include long-term memory loss and limb numbness. A sense of empowerment occurs in the afterglow. Internet drug fora facilitate information exchange, informed consumerism, and indigenous harm reduction, supporting pre- and post-purchase decision making.