Drugs and the Internet

To date the availability of illicit drugs in Australia has largely been examined through household surveys and interviews with people who use drugs; indicators such as drug seizures and arrests; and analyses of hospital admissions and drug-related deaths. However, over the past decade the Internet has developed as an additional source of information for discussion about and purchase of drugs (Walsh, 2011). In particular, the advent of the Silk Road in 2011 as an online marketplace, broadened out the availability of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and other more conventional illicit substances (such as cannabis and MDMA). After the closure of the Silk Road in October 2013, multiple new marketplaces emerged to take its place (Van Buskirk, Roxburgh, Farrell, & Burns, 2014a). Most recently the closure of Silk Road 2.0 and a large international law enforcement operation in November 2014 (dubbed Operation Onymous) have seen major changes in remaining dark web marketplaces.

This bulletin is the fourth in a series by the Drug Trends Unit that provides analysis of trends over time in the availability and type of substances sold via the internet to Australia. The current bulletin reports for the time period July 2014 to December 2014.