How accurate are drug cryptomarket listings by content, weight, purity and repeat purchase?
Drugs, Habits and Social Policy
ISSN: 2752-6739
Article publication date: 21 March 2024
Issue publication date: 14 May 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Drug cryptomarkets increase information available to market actors, which should reduce information asymmetry and increase market efficiency. This study aims to determine whether cryptomarket listings accurately represent the advertised substance, weight or number and purity, and whether there are differences in products purchased from the same listing multiple times.
Design/methodology/approach
Law enforcement drug purchases – predominantly cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and heroin – from Australian cryptomarket vendors (n = 38 in 2016/2017) were chemically analysed and matched with cryptomarket listings (n = 23). Descriptive and comparative analyses were conducted.
Findings
Almost all samples contained the advertised substance. In most of these cases, drugs were either supplied as-advertised-weight or number, or overweight or number. All listings that quantified purity overestimated the actual purity. There was no consistent relationship between advertised purity terms and actual purity. Across the six listings purchased from multiple times, repeat purchases from the same listing varied in purity, sometimes drastically, with wide variation detected on listings purchased from only one month apart.
Research limitations/implications
In this data set, cryptomarket listings were mostly accurate, but the system was far from perfect, with purity overestimated. A newer, larger, globally representative sample should be obtained to test the applicability of these findings to currently operating cryptomarkets.
Originality/value
This paper reports on the largest data set of forensic analysis of drug samples obtained from cryptomarkets, where data about advertised drug strength/dose were obtained.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the AFP, and in particular, Mark Tahtouh and Adrian De Grazia, for curating and providing the forensic data used in this project. This project was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1122200). The AFP and funders played no further part in the research process, and the views expressed in this paper should not be seen as representative of the views of these agencies.
Funding: This project was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1122200).
Declarations: None to declare.
Citation
Barratt, M.J., Coomber, R., Kowalski, M., Aldridge, J., Munksgaard, R., Ferris, J., Malm, A., Martin, J. and Décary-Hétu, D. (2024), "How accurate are drug cryptomarket listings by content, weight, purity and repeat purchase?", Drugs, Habits and Social Policy, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 6-18. https://doi.org/10.1108/DHS-11-2023-0043
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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