Survey on transactions of methamphetamine, MDMA and methylphenidate in Japan: A study using the internet

Objective: In Japan, the abuse of drugs, such as methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine (MDMA) and methylphenidate, has been spreading among adolescents and is becoming a serious social issue. It has also been pointed out that transactions over cellular phones and the Internet are involved in these dealings of abused drugs. However, there is little information about the actual conditions under which dealings of abused drugs occur via the Internet in Japan. Design: The present study was designed to gain a complete picture about transactions of several abused drugs (e.g., methamphetamine, MDMA and methylphenidate) via the Internet. Materials & Methods: At the start of a search for information on abused drugs, the words and phrases, such as "a cool thing" and "having sold" were searched using the Internet reference site "Google" and "goo", and the pages of the web sites that evidently deal with abused drugs were enumerated. From the pages that may be involved in dealing in abused drugs, the number of dealings of methamphetamine, NIDMA and methylphenidate was counted. Results: The number of listings was in the order of methamphetamine > methyllphenidate > MDMA; and these dealings were transacted via the Internet and cellular phones. Conclusion: These results indicate that such a ranking and the use of the Internet and cellular phones in dealing abused drugs are considered to reflect the situation of drug abuse in today's Japan.