Skip to main content

Dark Web Marketplace Increases Availability, Acceptability of Drugs: Expert

November 4th, 2015 The popularity of the “Dark Web” for purchasing illegal drugs is especially worrisome because it is increasing the availability and acceptability of drugs, according to an addiction psychiatry expert. “After talking with people who use the Dark Web, I became very concerned that many of them have lost the appreciation that this is drug dealing, not just e-commerce,” says Karen Miotto, MD, Director of UCLA’s Addiction Psychiatry Service, who has studied the Dark Web, also known as the Deep Web or the Hidden Web. “Buying or selling heroin balloons in the park is clearly understood as an illegal activity; buying or selling drugs online may be construed as e-commerce without full appreciation that it is also illegal.” The Dark Web refers to illegal online marketplaces that can be accessed by downloading the anonymous browser called Tor, and purchasing the digital currently bitcoin. In addition to illegal drugs, these websites sell passports, pornography and weapons. The first and most well-known Dark Web site was Silk Road, which was shut down by the federal government in 2013. The ease with which people can buy large quantities of drugs is creating a system with mid-level drug dealers, said Dr. Miotto, who discussed the Dark Web at the recent California Society of Addiction Medicine annual meeting. She found people who use the Dark Web by asking students and colleagues for contacts, as well as through the website Reddit. “We have a new drug distribution system,” Dr. Miotto said. “People can get drugs sent to them in a FedEx box right to their door with a sense of anonymity and confidentiality. There’s a sense of intrigue and excitement about getting drugs this way.” Earlier this year, a study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found illegal websites have sales that average $300,000 to $500,000 a day. The study found marijuana accounted for about one-quarter of sales, followed by Ecstasy and stimulants. These websites also sell significant amounts of psychedelic drugs, opioids and other prescription medications. Dr. Miotto found that hallucinogenic compounds advertised as research chemicals are popular on Dark Web sites. “Some people believe they are performing a service by experimenting with these drugs and going online and writing about their experience,” she said. When Silk Road was seized in October 2013, it had 13,000 drug listings. In June, the creator of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to life in prison. The government said over Silk Road’s three years in business, more than 1.5 million transactions were conducted on the site. A number of new Dark Web sites have emerged since Silk Road was seized, including Open Bazaar, Silk Road 3.0 and Angora. “People write in testimonials about the drugs they purchase on these sites, just as you do on Amazon,” Dr. Miotto notes. She said parents’ and physicians’ ignorance of the Dark Web makes it easier for young people to participate in the online drug marketplace. “Young people don’t always appreciate the risk they are taking in engaging in these activities,” she said. Parents can check to see if a Tor browser has been downloaded on their teen’s computer. Check packages that come to the house, and don’t allow your teen to have their own Post Office box. If your teen asks about Bitcoin, find out what he knows about it and why he’s interested in it. “I worry about young people with disposable income and access to credit cards,” Dr. Miotto said. “Some of the most tragic cases I’ve seen are high school kids, or even younger, with a lot of discretionary income.” BY CELIA VIMONT

Popular posts from this blog

New Oxycodone Formula Gets Backing of FDA

The FDA recently voted in favor of pushing a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride for approval. The new OxyContin formula is more difficult to crush or dissolve which will hopefully make it harder to be used as a drug of abuse . The FDA recommended that Purdue Pharma's application for a new, resin-coated formulation should replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996. Randall Flick, MD, an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic who voted to recommend approval of the drug said, "Clearly the old formulation is worse than the new, although I think the difference is relatively small," Flick concluded, "Hardcore abusers are likely to devise new ways to break down the harder tablet or figure out which solvents will dissolve it fastest, within 'day or weeks' of the product's release on the market."

Utah Debates Drug Testing for Public Assistance

Utah has begun to follow the path that so many other states have traveled earlier this year. The path leads to drug testing for public assistance. Utah Senator Dennis Stowell had asked that the issue be studied carefully and Rep. Christopher Herrod said "If someone's on drugs, we shouldn't be giving them money," he said. "There's nowhere in the Constitution that says, 'You have a right to get welfare." At the center of the debate is cost and legality. An analyst for Community Action Partnership of Utah stated that "The cost to test all Utah’s families that receive 'Temporary Assistance for Needy Families' would be high." The analyst added, "That testing all welfare recipients just once would cost about $255,000 and a lawsuit against the state would likely cost more than $1 million." Further discussion and analysis is planned in the upcoming months to decide whether to study the issue further, table the issue or wait un...

CHEATERS DON'T WIN! NC Man's Tricks Backfire During Drug Test

Jeffrey Selph has found himself in the jailhouse for trying to cheat and beat his drug test. Selph was caught by his probation officer with a "yellow like tube with urine" in his possession right before his test. Selph was booked on a charge of defraud drug/alcohol screening tests under a $3,000 bond. Other Drug Test Cheating Stories on MMC's Drug Free Blog... U.S. Airways Express Pilot Doubled As Drug Testing Cheat Entrepreneur Pittsburgh Court Sentences Maker of "Whizzinator" Drug Testing Cheat Device If You Are Going to Cheat On Your Drug Test... Be Prepared to Face The Consequences! Lawrence Taylor's Drug Riddled Past Re-Examined by New Charges Synthetic Human Urine Employed To Pass Drug Tests Illinois Man Caught Cheating on Urine Drug Test Mobile Medical Corporation ( MMC ), a Pittsburgh Drug Testing firm continually monitors the news outlets for incidents of drug test cheating in order to provide further information on the topic. Mobile Medical Corp...