Has the Internet Made Drug Use Safer?

Let me just get this out now, the current approaches of drug policy involving criminalising and law enforcement has failed to achieve the main aim of drug laws, reducing the supply and demand of illicit drugs.

In the US, where drug laws are amongst the most severe, “studies show that the United States has among the highest rates of drug use in the world” (Shultz and Aspe, 2017). However, law enforcement operations face an increasing expanding problem, the dark web drug trade.

“The expansion of Personal Computer ownership and growth of internet access revolutionised how people communicated and retrieved information in relation to illicit drugs in the 1990s, a period of growth and expansion of the global drug trade” (Buxton and Bingham, 2015, p 3). However, recently there has been an intense rise in the sales of a wide range of recreational drugs on Dark Net drug markets, “with on line sales projected to increase exponentially due to expanding internet availability, evolving technologies and the profusion of social media” (Buxton and Bingham, 2015, p 1). With this in mind, it is becoming a question that is warranted by this sharp rise, Is the internet making drug use safer?

These drug markets online are dark websites that are only accessible through certain browsers and encryptions which make tracking almost impossible. “Due to the in-depth review system and the incentive to provide good quality, reliable products in a highly competitive open market, some would argue that the Dark Web even makes drug taking safer and they reduce the multiple risks (coercion, violence, arrest, exposure to other drugs) associated with ‘street’ sales” (Fullerton, 2017 and Buxton and Bingham, 2015, p 1). As well as these features, “anonymised user forums and online chat rooms encourage and facilitate information sharing about drug purchases and drug effects, representing a novel form of harm reduction for drug users and an entry point for drug support services” (Buxton and Bingham, 2015, p 1). So, for these reasons, perhaps buying recreational drugs online instead of from a near stranger without knowledge of the process and reliability of the product is safer.

However, some argue it is encouraging young people to take recreational drugs, “the online drug trade may also make it easier for adolescents and teenagers to purchase illegal drugs” (Unity Behavioral Health, n.d.). This, it is argued, is due to the “elimination” of the fear surrounding buying illicit drugs. However, I would argue that buying illicit drugs online and delivered to your or your parents’ house is also a fearful prospect. It may also encourage offline drug dealers to buy in bulk online and turn over a profit on the street, in which case I say good. It is more likely a safer drug being sold on the street rather than an unknown substance with god knows what in it.

Until governments around the world realise the failure of the War on Drugs and regulate recreational drugs which would make them the safest, they could possibly be, dark net drug markets seem like the next best thing. Less drug fatalities due to more reputable sources is better than consumption of unknown substances without a reputation or reliability to follow.

References

Buxton, J. and Bingham, T. (2015). The Rise and Challenge of Dark Net Drug Markets. Global Drug Policy Observatory, [online] p 1 + 3. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/34722885.pdf [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

Fullerton, A. (2017). Meet the students turning to the Dark Web for their drugs fix. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/student/student-life/students-dark-web-buy-illegal-drugs-university-2017-digital-dealers-a7578041.html [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

Shultz, G. and Aspe, P. (2017). Opinion | The Failed War on Drugs. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/31/opinion/failed-war-on-drugs.html [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

Unity Behavioral Health. (n.d.). Dangers of the New Online Drug Market | Unity Behavioral Health. [online] Available at: https://www.unityrehab.com/blog/dangers-of-the-new-online-drug-market/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].