The study found that post-adolescent ecstasy users rated their parents as less controlling than nonusers. Three drug groups were formed for study: ecstasy/polydrug users, cannabis-only users, and nonusers. Ecstasy/polydrug users rated their parents’ style significantly lower on both the warmth and control subscales of the parenting style questionnaire than the other two groups, but the parental control measure was the only variable to reach statistical significance. Despite this, when using orthogonal difference contrasts, ecstasy/polydrug users were found to rate their parents as significantly less warm compared to the other two drug groups. Cannabis-only and nonusers did not differ significantly from each other in terms of their ratings of parental warmth or control. It was predicted that warmth would be an important predictor of severity of use, as ecstasy users might be seeking the empathy and closeness that they did not perceive to have at home. This was not the case; parental control emerged as a more important factor. Data were collected from 128 ecstasy/polydrug users, 51 cannabis-only users, and 54 nonusers who were recruited from a university population in the United Kingdom. Tables and references