Most Controversial Drugs On Wikipedia
Wikipedia has become one of the most expansive and popular reference sources on the web. With 4.7 million articles, 9.2 billion monthly pageviews1, and over 30,000 active editors volunteering on the English Wikipedia, it’s often the first place anyone goes for both quick overviews and in-depth information on almost any topic. But when anyone can contribute to these collaborative resources, who’s accountable for the content? Where do the people who write these articles come from, and what are they most interested in writing about?
Luckily, Wikipedia offers a public record of each page’s history of changes, showing who made an edit and when they did it. By examining the histories of several dozen Wikipedia articles on drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other vices, we’ve identified which substance- and vice-related topics are the most controversial and in which cities and states such controversy is highest.