Despite the closing of Silk Road in 2013, more people started to buy drugs online in 2014 than ever before.
More than one in 10 people globally said they bought drugs via conventional sites and “darknet” sites in 2014, according to the Global Drug Survey.
Specifically, more than 11,750 respondents out of more than 100,000 said they had purchased drugs online, using either conventional websites or on “darknet” websites like Silk Road. A quarter (25.3 percent) of those said they first bought the drugs online in 2014, more than any previous year.
Users said they found the “darknet” websites to be cheaper, more reliable and safer than alternative places to buy drugs — an indication that the “darknet” drug economy is getting stronger and bigger.
MDMA powder (37.2 percent) was the most popular drug bought on the “darknet,” followed by LSD (30.3 percent) and MDMA pills (26.5 percent), respondents said.
When asked why they stopped using drugs, those who stopped using illicit drugs said they simply had grown out of using them. Common responses included, “I do not like the effects anymore” and “using it doesn’t fit with my lifestyle anymore”.
However, almost no respondents cited police as a reason to stop drugs — less than one percent of respondents said they had rethought using drugs after being caught by police.
(h/t The Guardian)
